Safe at Home
by A.Dee
Summary: *WRITTEN BEFORE OotP*God, no! I’m only seventeen years old, I shouldn’t have to put up with this! Corvus beats him, Ursa watches, and Lyra just giggles and kicks. Rating for violence, abuse, and Sirius's mouth.
1. Of Going Into Sirius' Land of Pain

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

A/N: This is my first shot at MWPP and abuse, so, yeah. No flames please. Insults, yes, mild ones. Burning roaring flames, no. Oh, _italics_ are thoughts, for the most part.

Rating for abuse, violence, and Sirius's mouth.

*--The type of bruises I mean are black-and-blues, you know, those purplish-bluish ones that are sometimes yellowish too? 

"No! Please…not again Father…please!!"

"You will learn to behave properly and obey your mother and me, or you will get out!"

"I will! I will…if you please stop…for now."

Corvus smiled sadistically. "How I love to hear you beg…but it will not save you tonight." With those words, he brought the leather strap down on his son's bare chest.

Ursa looked down on her son without pity. "Why couldn't you do as we asked?"

"Mum…I did all you asked…but I was delayed a little…at the store…there was a long line…of people," he choked out.

Corvus flipped his son over and whipped his bare back. "Do _not_ backtalk your mother! We asked you to go to the store, cook dinner, then wash dishes in an hour's time because we had a meeting. It took you an hour and ten minutes. You must be punished."

Lyra skipped down the stairs. "Was Sirius bad again?" she asked her mother.

"Yes Lyra dear," said Ursa matter-of-factly.

Lyra's eyes lit up. "Ooh, can I kick the bad doggy?"

Corvus gestured to Sirius. "Go ahead. Oh, but first…" He rummaged around in a shopping bag. "Put these new boots on."

__

Steel toes? thought Sirius,_ God, no! I'm only seventeen years old, I shouldn't have to put up with this shit! I'm sure at least two of my damn ribs are broken because of Lyra!_

Lyra giggled. While she was only ten years old, her parents had already corrupted her. She tied on the steel-toed boots, then kicked Sirius in the sides, chest, back, and head. When she finished, Corvus hefted Sirius up, kicked him out of the room, and sent him to his bedroom.

__

God…I wish I could tell James about this…but then he would doubt I was telling the truth. 'Hey, James, I get abused all summer long, but I don't have a mark on my bloody body come September first!' Well, James might believe me, and possibly Remus and Peter too, but no one else will. Damn, damn, damn! Go to hell, Corvus Black!

**************************************************************

For another week, Corvus whipped, slapped, and generally mistreated Sirius, Ursa watched, and Lyra kicked 'the bad doggy'. Finally, there was only one week left in the summer and Ursa was taking Sirius to Diagon Alley. Corvus had to mend the wounds so he wouldn't get arrested, though he wasn't adept enough to hide the bruises*.

__

Finally, I get a damn break from the pain! Sirius thought happily. _And I'll get to see James and Remus and Peter. God, I wish I had normal parents._

"I am going to give you until dark to get all your things. Meet me at the Leaky Cauldron at six." Ursa lowered her voice. "You know what your Father will do if you are late."

Sirius nodded, then turned and went into Diagon Alley. 

"Sirius!" called the voice of James Potter.

Sirius spun around. "James, Remus, Peter! Hey, it's good to see all of you guys!"

"What happened to you?" Remus asked. "You're covered in bruises."

Sirius shrugged. "You know…I fell down, I was fooling around with Lyra, and playing Quidditch. Usual me."

James nodded. "Padfoot, you really should have come with us this summer."

"I was…busy. You know, with Father and Mum and Lyra. Bloody family," Sirius said, trying to sound light.

Peter still hadn't said a word.

Sirius looked at him. "What's up with him?"

James sniggered. "Oh, on the way here, we saw a tabby cat killing a rat. Traumatized him, I guess."

"It was awful! Maybe I should've been something else!" Peter squeaked.

"Can't change now," Remus said, sounding a little sad. "See, if it hadn't been for me, you wouldn't have become Animagus and then you wouldn't care what you were."

James clapped a hand on Remus's shoulder. "Come on Rem, it's fun!"

"Yeah," said Sirius halfheartedly.

Remus shot Sirius a look. "Sirius? Can I have a word?" He dragged Sirius over to an alleyway leading out of Diagon Alley. 

"What?" Sirius asked, irritated.

"Sirius, something's bothering you. What is it?"

Sirius snorted. "Oh yes, something's bothering me all right. Since James can't see it, there must not be anything at all!" He wrenched out of Remus's grasp and stalked back to James and Peter.

"Hey, I didn't mean to insult you, oh high and mighty one," Remus said to Sirius when he caught up with him.

Sirius raised one eyebrow. "Insult me? As if! Nothing in the whole damn world could insult me!"

Sirius finished getting school supplies at five o'clock. Then he had to buy Marauder supplies. Fortunately, he finished at quarter to six, and made it to Ursa at six on the dot.

"Close shave, Sirius Black," she said. "Too close. I will inform your father and he will give you a…_ close shave._"

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End Chapter one. Okay, please review. See the button down there? It says: SUBMIT REVIEW on the drop down, then you click GO. Get it, got it, good.

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	2. Of SayingGoodbye Family, Hello Marauders

Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling and her publishers except for Andromeda Starr. (Annie)

A/N: Okay, to anyone who was wondering: No one knows about the abuse because Corvus hides the cuts, welts, and wounds with magic, and usually stops beating Sirius a week before Hogwarts so the bruises have time to heal. Also, Corvus, Ursa, Andromeda and Lyra are stars or constellations. Ursa comes from Ursa Major and Minor.

Sirius gulped. _What does she mean by that? Oh God…help me!_

They soon arrived at home. Sirius sat in a chair as instructed, or rather, ordered, by Ursa while she spoke to Corvus.

Corvus came into the room with an evil smile on his face. "Sirius Orion Black, your mother informs me that you had a _close shave._ So, I am going to give you a _close shave_." He held up the thing in his hand.

Sirius gasped. _Damn, I'm shit out of luck! A razor blade, Jesus!_

"Ah, you understand I see. Well, let's not waste any time," Corvus said, approaching him with the razor blade.

When Corvus had finished, Sirius was lying on the floor with blood smeared all over his back and legs. His breathing was heavy, as Corvus had rubbed salt in the wounds. Actually, he had rubbed a potion in them, which healed the cuts, but stung the skin for hours during and after the healing process. 

What did I do to deserve this? They've been doing this for four years, ever since they found out I was friends with a werewolf and was in love with a Muggle-born. Who the fuck cares?! Obviously those damn Slytherins do. How Corvus was the heir of Gryffindor I'll never know. Well, now I'm the heir, so that could be the reason he abuses me. I really wish I could tell someone, but I just can't. Why doesn't James notice? He's supposed to be my best friend. Only Moony notices, but I have to lie to him, because if I told him the truth, James would wonder why I never told him. I hate my parents!

The rest of the week went by agonizingly slowly. Sirius stopped being abused, but the cuts all over his back healed slowly, and the potion just made the pain worse. But Sirius managed to pack his trunk all the same. 

On the morning they were supposed to go to King's Cross, Corvus had Sirius stand naked so he could cross-examine his body for missed wounds. After finding none, Corvus made Sirius stand naked for an hour before he was allowed to put clothes on again. 

__

This is utterly embarrassing, Sirius thought angrily. _I can't wait to get on the damn train! Good, we're leaving now. _

After apparating Sirius and herself to the station, Ursa handed Sirius a letter. "Read this somewhere private, and not until December. Have a good term." And she disapparated.

Sirius headed towards the Marauder's traditional meeting spot. James was the only one there. "Hey Sirius! Those bruises healed quickly."

"What? Oh, yeah. Magic does wonders on things like that," Sirius said bitterly.

James looked at Sirius strangely. "What's up with you?"

__

I am so tempted to tell him…but I'd rather not, not in the middle of Platform 9 ¾. Besides, I want to tell all the Marauders at once. And probably Lily and Annie too. Aloud he said, "Oh, nothing. Just, um…nothing."

James looked like he didn't believe him, but he didn't press the matter. "Okaaay…Remus, Peter, over here!"

Remus waved, and Peter squeaked, "Hi!" They made their way over to Sirius and James.

"Hi Remus, hi Peter," Sirius said. Remus waved again. "Can't you speak, Remus?" Sirius asked.

Remus shook his head, then held up a piece of parchment. 

"I was testing a new prank item I invented, and it blew up in my face. Mum wouldn't perform _Finite Incantatum,_" James read. "Smart, Moony. What did you put in it?" Remus scribbled something. "I'll tell you if you do the spell."

Sirius laughed. "_Finite Incantatum_."

"Thank you Sirius. And James, it was a silencing spell cast into a silencing potion. Or it would have been, if the potion hadn't exploded," Remus said.

They all laughed, then got their things together and boarded the train.

__

Finally, I'm somewhere where I won't get abused twenty-four hours a day. Finally, I'm home.

A/N: Rather short, I know, but I have too many fics to write long chapters for. Flame is longer because it's stuff I've been writing since July. Sorry. Review please!


	3. Of Friends, Hogwarts, Pranks, Secrets, T...

Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling and her publishers except for unfamiliar and previously mentioned ones.

A/N: I hope you all like this _extraordinarily_ long chapter. It's twenty-four full pages, plus one line of twenty-five to fit in "Thanks." I've been writing it since 12-30-02. The reason for this hugely long chapter? I wanna get to December because that's where some angst-y things are, and I'm not in the mood to prolong stuff. Also, I haven't been dedicating enough time to Safe At Home, _and_ I already have an idea for the _sequel_ to this, which I can't write before the first, now can I? PLUS THE SEQUEL TAKES PLACE IN SUMMER BEFORE HARRY'S FIFTH YEAR, SO I NEED TO GET THESE DONE BY JUNE 21, BECAUSE THAT'S WHEN ORDER OF THE PHOENIX IS COMING OUT!!!

Ugh, Remus seems like a crybaby!!!!! And it almost seems like slash, but it's not! Ugh!

BTW, how's my Sorting song? And fooled you all about Annie! And I am not British, so pardon if my Brit slang isn't right. I use what I pick up from people who are, so…you know. British curses are much appreciated. And I'm not a Texan! I just wanted to use that accent, 'cause it's cool. 

(*) There is such a thing as a macaroni penguin, just so you know. I'm not sure if it's spelled like the macaroni in macaroni and cheese, but there is such a thing. (End *)

(*2) Did I use that right? Is that even British? Or Irish for that matter? (End *2)

(*3) I don't like him, I don't care what he's doing (End *3)

(*4) I realize there is no way teachers would allow this to be the password. However, in those days, the Prefects of the House chose the password and cleared it with the Head of House. We all know what a fucking bastard of a Slytherin whore teacher Carson is, so he approved. (End *4)

(*5) Oliver Wood's dad, according to me! (End *5)

(*6) Angelina Johnson's dad, according to me! (End *6)

(*7) He was at Hogwarts when MWPP & Co were, according to me! (End *7)

After the train ride, the Marauders, Lily and Andromeda Starr, James' girlfriend sat down at the Gryffindor table and watched the Sorting. The Sorting hat opened its mouth and sang:

__

Oh, one thousand years ago or so,

There was a great school made

Where magic children did all go

To learn the tricks of the trade

Of Houses there, there were four,

All were good and equal

The founders they, did adore

Me, so wise and regal

There was Slytherin, whose chose

The slyest of the group

Then there was Ravenclaw, who knows

The wisest of the troupe

Hufflepuff, thought she knew best,

Chose loyalty overall

To Gryffindor go noblest,

And the bravest of them all

So put me on, I do choose well

I know what you like!

I may look patched, but I am swell

Let me take a mental hike!

Everyone cheered, and the Sorting began. The Marauders & Co. didn't pay any attention whatsoever, they were talking quietly among themselves.

"Annie, did you and Lils come up with anything good this summer?" James asked quietly.

Lily grinned and Annie replied, "Yeah. See, my uncle talks in his sleep, and he was in Slytherin. He told me the way to the common room, and that the password always has something to do with purebloods. So, if we could get in there…"

"Great idea Annie," Sirius said.

Remus grinned in an evil sort of way. "I was thinking somewhere along the same lines. Suppose James, Sirius and Annie Switch Slytherin Quidditch robes for Gryffindor ones?"

"Ooh, with a Switching spell?" Lily asked interestedly.

"What else?" Remus asked.

"Wicked!" James said, throwing up his hands and accidentally jabbing Sirius in the back with his fork.

Sirius winced and bit his lip to keep from yelling out loud. Though the cuts were healed, his back was still sore. "Ouch, James, keep your bloody silverware to yourself," he said, trying to sound humorous.

"Oh, sorry," James said. "Anyway--" James was cut off by the food appearing on the plates. He grinned and began to serve himself.

Everyone followed his lead except for Sirius. _Shit, after being starved for most of the bloody summer, it seems that food makes me nauseous._

Lily immediately noticed her boyfriend's lack of appetite. "Siri, aren't you going to eat anything?"

Sirius swallowed hard to keep from throwing up what little amount of food was in his stomach. "Um…I'm not really hungry," he said, trying to keep from smelling the food.

"You're always hungry, do you feel okay?" James asked.

"Yeah…I'm just not hungry tonight," Sirius said uncomfortably.

"Sirius, you're already skinny, you really should eat something," Remus said.

Sirius glared at them. "If I fucking said I'm not hungry, I'm not fucking hungry!"

Remus looked hurt. "All right then. We're just concerned about you. You haven't been acting like yourself lately. And 'lately' goes back to the end of last year. You were acting strangely then too."

"I have not! You're all imagining things!" Sirius said harshly.

Remus looked more deeply hurt. "If you say so," he said, looking like he might cry.

Sirius felt awful about the way he had spoken to Remus. Remus was the one they all stuck up for, the 'favorite' among them. This wasn't only because of the fact that he was a werewolf, but also because he was always painfully shy and would never retaliate against anyone picking on him. So that was why when one of the Marauders & Co. was angry with him, he was more hurt than if a Slytherin was picking on him. Now, they also had to rescue Peter all the time, but it was from stupider things. Peter _would_ retaliate against the Slytherins, but he'd use magic and would usually end up in a worse fix than before he started. Needless to say, he was _not_ the favorite.

James, Annie and Lily scowled at Sirius and Peter stopped stuffing his face for a minute to stare at him. Sirius hung his head, but didn't apologize to Remus. He would after the meal, when he could actually _talk_ to Remus, not just say, "Sorry!" down the table.

They returned to talk of pranks, though Sirius was quieter than usual.

"So, should we sneak into the Slytherin common room before or after we have a solid plan?" Annie asked.

"How about a weak plan, then we discuss it some more?" Lily suggested.

Sirius spoke up, "James, do you think you could Transfigure their common room to look like ours?"

James thought for a minute. "Probably…but a little help would be appreciated."

"James, you're the best at Transfiguration, you pick and choose who should help," Remus said.

James thought a moment, then said, "I hope I don't offend any of you, but…Lily, Sirius and I should do the Transfiguring. Annie, you…well, last year, you turned a pigeon into a bowl of macaroni, when you were going for macaroni penguin(*)."

"Don't remind me," Annie groaned.

James sniggered, then continued, "Peter…well, we all know how that would work."

Peter tried to look indignant, but his mouth was full of roast beef, so it didn't really work.

"And Remus…well, it's not that you're not good at Transfiguration, it's just that, um…"

"You three are better than me," Remus said. "I know. And I'm not offended."

Sirius had been sitting lost in his thoughts after questioning James about Transfiguring the common room, so he jumped when Lily spoke to him. 

"Sirius, do you mean the whole common room? Right down to that crack in the brick of the fireplace you made? Or just the basic fireplace/red furniture/nice carpets?"

Sirius grinned. "Everything, right down to that crack in the fireplace."

"That'll take some work," James muttered.

Lily shrugged. "But it'll be fun."

"What're me, Remus and Peter going to do while you are Transfiguring?" Annie asked.

James answered instantly, "You are going to be in the Great Hall, wand-writing a message to the Slytherins. Remus is going to be in Malfoy, Snape, Crabbe, Goyle, and Rosier's dormitory stealing something embarrassing from them, and Peter is going to be in Nott, Avery, and Lestrange's dormitory, doing the same."

Peter smiled happily. "I get the sixth years! Not the seventh years!"

"Well, I know for a fact Snape keeps a diary," Remus said smugly.

James grinned.

~*~

After the feast, while they were walking up to the Tower, Sirius asked Remus quietly, "Before we go up to bed, can I talk to you?" Remus nodded silently. So when they reached the common room, Sirius pulled Remus over to one of the couches and sat down. 

"Moony, about what I said at dinner. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. I know you're only concerned. But when you all keep pestering me, it just makes me mad. You know?"

Remus nodded. "Apology accepted. You know, I felt the same way back in first and second year when you were all asking if I was all right before and after the full moon before I told you the truth. I knew I looked like shit, but I was used to it. You guys weren't. So, I got used to you guys pestering me all the time, but I was really glad that I told you the truth." Remus looked meaningfully at Sirius, but he looked away.

__

I get the hint. Maybe. Maybe I'll tell them all what I'm hiding, maybe I won't. But not for a long, long time… "Well, I guess I'll go to bed. Coming?"

Remus nodded. "Yeah, I'm coming."

***********************************************************

The next day, Sirius rose first and went down to the common room to wait for the others, as usual. Lily descended the staircase to the girls' dormitory first.

"Morning Flower," Sirius said, using his pet name for Lily.

"Morning Siri," Lily replied, sitting next to Sirius on the couch. 

Sirius smiled warmly at Lily, then tenderly kissed her. Lily responded to the kiss in her usual way: deepening the kiss and wrapping her arms around Sirius.

"Love you Flower," Sirius whispered.

"Me too Siri, always," Lily replied.

At that moment, someone cleared their throat. They both looked up and saw Remus standing at the bottom of the stairs. "Sorry to interrupt the snog fest."

Lily blushed, but Sirius just shrugged and said, " It's all right. We can always continue later."

"The others are awake, and should be down soon. How asleep is Annie?" Remus asked.

"Not very," came a sleepy voice from the top of the stairs, and Annie appeared. 

Within minutes, James and Peter appeared, followed by Mundungus Fletcher, who was also a seventh year Gryffindor.

"Morning," James said, his messy hair messier than usual.

"James, dahlin', your hair's all a muss," Annie drawled. "What y'all staring at?"

Sirius sniggered. "You must be more tired than we thought. You seem to have your American Texas accent going strong this morning _dahlin_'"

Annie giggled. "Now _that_ sounded funny."

"Why?" Sirius demanded.

"No reason," Annie said, in a very bad, fake mixture of an Irish and English accent.

"Hey!" Sirius protested, "I don't sound _that_ bloody mixed!"

Mundungus, who went by Gus, had been listening. He chipped in, "Yes, you do."

Sirius ignored Gus and said, "Are you coming or not?" and headed out the portrait hole.

The Marauders & Co and Gus followed, still laughing.

~*~

After breakfast, they had Potions with the Slytherins. Sirius walked unhappily down to the dungeons. _I hate damned Potions. The teacher is a wanker_(*2) _and we have to have the lessons with the bastards they call Slytherins._

"Sit down, all of you," Professor Carson snapped. "For this lesson, we will be pairing up and making a highly complex potion, called the Wolfsbane Potion. It is extremely new, and has not been tested yet, nor is it likely that it ever will be, but it is believed to cure werewolves. Of course, you all know that monkshood, wolfsbane, or aconite is poisonous to werewolves if consumed, but if the proper ingredients are added, alchemists believe it will help rather than harm them. Pity," he added, "As werewolves are vicious creatures that deserve to die."

Remus looked at his cauldron with tears in his eyes. Automatically, the Marauders & Co moved closer to Remus.

__

Go to Hell Carson! Sirius inwardly fumed. _You fucking know Remie is a fucking werewolf, and you add that last part anyway. I should do it wrong so it explodes…but then Remie could be in danger, so I'll have to think of another way._

As was usual, Sirius paired with Remus, James with Annie, and Lily with Peter. All of them save Remus began to get their ingredients out. Remus was still staring at his cauldron.

"Remie? Are you okay?" Sirius asked gently.

Remus looked up at Sirius. "How could he? He knows…" A single tear slipped from Remus' eye.

"Don't let that fucking bastard get you down Rem," Sirius said, beginning to measure the asphodel out.

"I'll try not to," Remus said, measuring the armadillo bile and pouring it in after the asphodel.

They worked in silence for a few more minutes until they came to the next to last thing on the list: wolfsbane. Remus shuddered as he looked at the vial containing the powdered plant. 

"Don't worry, I'll put it in," Sirius whispered quietly. 

Suddenly Carson appeared. "Black, have you and Lupin added equal amounts of ingredients?"

Sirius didn't say anything. _No, but I'm not going to tell you that, or you'll make him put in the wolfsbane, I know it, that's just the kind of bastard you are._

"I thought as much. Lupin, add the wolfsbane, now," Carson sneered.

Remus' hands shook slightly as he measured the ingredient and poured it in.

"And now the wormwood," Carson ordered. "Oh, and if any of the measurements have been even slightly off, this is where the potion will explode."

Remus carefully poured the wormwood into the measuring cup, then added it to the potion. It bubbled and frothed for a moment, then turned brilliant gold, and smoke poured from it, as it was supposed to. 

Carson scowled and took five points from Gryffindor for 'having Potter or Evans help them' before he left.

Remus sighed in relief, then went to wash his hands. Sirius followed with the measuring utensils.

~*~

"Do you know what that fucking bastard of a Slytherin whore teacher did?" Sirius asked James angrily.

James looked curious as to what had gotten Sirius so mad he was swearing every other word. "No, what did that fucking bastard of a Slytherin whore teacher do? Besides that werewolf comment at the beginning?"

"Well, that's part of it, but the bastard also made Moony pour in the wolfsbane and the wormwood, after telling him that if any of the ingredients had been wrong, the wormwood would make the potion explode!" he exclaimed angrily.

"Wow. He is a fucking bastard of a Slytherin whore teacher," James said.

Remus caught up to them. "Who's a fucking bastard of a Slytherin teacher?"

"A Slytherin _whore_ teacher," Sirius corrected. "And Carson is."

Remus nodded savagely.

Lily suddenly rounded the corner. "Sirius! Language!"

"How long have you been there?!" Sirius demanded

"Since you called Carson a…well, you know, for the first time," Lily replied.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "God Flower, you've got to start speaking like a bloody seventeen-year-old, not a seven-year-old angel! Even little Remie says 'bloody Hell!' about once every other conversation!"

"Bloody He--! Well, you do have a point. But bloody Hell Sirius, what's you do, make a chart of how often we all use 'bad' language?!" Remus exclaimed.

"Well, yeah. I use it every chance I get, Annie does almost as much as me, James uses it to insult people, Peter does it trying to 'fit in' and Lily--never. Still being a 'good girl'. Where's your redhead temper?" Sirius said cockily.

James rolled his eyes. "You _need_ to get a life you prat. And you left out Remus in your explanation.

"Pay attention Head boy, he already _did_ me. 'Little Remie'--which I do _not_ appreciate being called--'says bloody Hell about once every other conversation," Remus quoted.

Lily grinned. "Well, that makes it…let's see…two and one half times in one conversation. Looks like you need to re-evaluate us Siri!"

Sirius smiled slowly and said in a smooth voice, "Oh, I have a better idea." He raised one eyebrow and then, without warning, he grabbed Lily and kissed her passionately. Lily made an odd squealing noise and blushed as everyone in the corridor stared at her and Sirius. 

A voice from behind them said, "Mr. Black, I believe Miss Evans is flattered but quite embarrassed at you show of affection."

Sirius spun around and found himself looking at the Headmaster. "Oh, well, that was the point."

Dumbledore smiled and said, as if to himself, "Ah, youth. So wonderful. Good day."

"He is one crackpot loony," James remarked.

Lily hit James in the arm. "James! Set an example for the first years!"

James rolled his eyes. "Uh, Lily? There aren't any first years."

"Well…the other seventh years who act like first years then," Lily said. "Meaning you guys. Well, not Remus, he acts like a third year."

"Thank you very much," said Remus.

***********************************************************

The next week passed without event. Well, the Marauders secretly planned what to do during the full moon, but that was normal, as was the Marauder & Co's pranking. But when they had been back at school for two weeks, James called a Marauder & Co meeting.

"Okay Marauders and Company, I think we're ready to do the big prank. Lily, Sirius, have you two been practicing?"

They nodded, looking excited.

"All right then, just to see how you're coming, Lily, Transfigure that table to match that chair exactly," James said, pointing. "And don't turn it back afterwards."

Lily waved her wand, muttered the spell, and the table turned into the duplicate of the armchair next to it.

James grinned. "Great job! Okay Sirius, turn it back to the way it was before."

Sirius waved his wand, and the chair popped back into a table. "Voila!"

James inspected the table. "Exact match! And I can do that too. Transfigure I mean. Let's see. Annie, love, how's your wand-writing?"

"I can write a message, and charm it so it doesn't appear until a certain number of people appear. I tried up in the dormitory, and it worked. Ask Lily," Annie replied.

Lily nodded. "Yes, she can do it."

James grinned. "Excellent. It looks like project Slytherin common room will be done tonight! Okay, here's how the Invisibility cloak thing will work. Sirius, Remus, Annie and I will go first. We'll figure out the password, and then Annie will come back and get the others. Then Annie will take the cloak, go to the Great Hall, write the message, and come back to the Slytherin common room when she's done."

Sirius grinned too. "This will be bloody brilliant!"

"Yeah, this will be one hell of a prank," Annie agreed.

"Language!" Lily snapped.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on Flower, in other countries, if you call something bloody that isn't literally bleeding, people will look at you strangely. So pretend you're in sodding America or something."

"Hey!" Annie protested, "I take offense to that."

Sirius sniggered. "Oh yeah, I forgot. Our little _dahlin_' is from Texas,"

"_My_ little dahlin'," James corrected.

"I don't _belong _to anyone!" Annie snapped.

Remus smiled. "Oh, Annie, yes you do. You belong to yourself."

"Remus, you always have a contradiction for everything. But that's why we love ya!"

Sirius sniggered. "'Ya'? When in Rome, do as the bloody Romans do, and when in England, do as the English do!"

Remus pouted. "Romans aren't bloody."

"Sorry Remus, I forgot that your ancestors were Romans," Sirius said.

Remus raised one eyebrow. "Really? Well then, you need to read your Roman mythology a little better. Remus is the brother of Romulus, the founder of Rome. He was the child suckled by the wolf. Remember?"

"Of course I remember. It just slipped my mind. Okay?"

Remus nodded, satisfied.

James cleared his throat. "All right. Everyone meet back here at two a.m.; the Slytherins will probably all be asleep by then."

The Marauders & Co went their separate ways. Sirius borrowed James' Invisibility cloak and he and Lily went to the Astronomy tower to have a quick snog, James and Annie did the same thing, but in the boys dorm, Peter went off to do something or other (*3), and Remus curled up in an armchair and read _Romeo and Juliet_.

~*~

At two that morning, the Marauders & Co met back at the common room. Sirius grinned and thought, _I can't wait to see the Slytherins' faces. This will be so fucking good._ James, Sirius, Remus and Annie slipped under the cloak and left the common room.

"This way," Annie whispered, pointing the way with her hand outside of the cloak. They turned several corners, descended many stairs, and made their way through the labyrinth of passages in the dungeons. "It's this wall. Okay, start guessing."

Sirius thought. "Pureblood!" Nothing happened.

"Purebloods!" James said. Nothing happened.

"Um…Salazar Slytherin!" Annie said. Again, nothing happened.

Remus hesitated, then said, "Um…no offense to anyone, but…mudbloods are unworthy(*4)!" The wall slid open.

"Nice thinking Remus!" Sirius whispered. 

James peered inside the room. "Ugh, look at this room! We have our work cut out for us. Okay Annie, go back to our common room and bring Lily and Peter along. Then write the message."

Annie nodded and left the boys there.

"Okay, Remus, go into dormitories and when you find the right one, grab Snape's diary, if you can find it. If not, just grab something embarrassing--like a pair of Malfoy's dirty knickers or something," James whispered.

"Bloody Hell! I'm not grabbing _dirty_ knickers James, that's gross!" Remus whispered loudly.

Sirius muffled his sniggers. "That'd be fucking funny if you did though."

Remus rolled his eyes and disappeared up the stairs.

"Okay Sir, let's get to work," James whispered. 

They began to Transfigure the furniture. After all the armchairs and couches had been Transfigured, Lily and Peter came into the common room.

"Lily, start Transfiguring. Peter, go up and find the right dormitory," Sirius whispered. Peter gulped and scurried up the stairs.

After about half an hour, Annie came back. Fifteen minutes after that, Peter and Remus came down into the common room, each clutching several items. Half and hour after they came down, James, Lily and Sirius were finished.

"Perfect!" Remus exclaimed in a whisper.

Sirius examined everything carefully. "Almost." Then he Transfigured the fireplace again, checked it over, and exclaimed in a whisper, "Now it's perfect!"

"What did you change?" Lily asked.

"Why, my dear Lily, you forgot that crack I made," Sirius replied.

James rolled his eyes. "All right. Now, let's get out of here. Annie, Sirius, Remus and I first, then Annie'll come back and get you and Peter, okay Lily?"  


They all nodded, then the first group left the common room. The second group followed fifteen minutes later.

When everyone was in the Gryffindor common room again, Sirius asked, "Remus, what did you and Peter nick?"

Remus grinned. "I got Snape's diary, Malfoy's _clean_ knickers, and a magazine that was under Rosier's bed"

Peter laughed nervously. "I got some knickers from Nott, Avery and Lestrange." He held them out.

"Gross Peter, that pair is dirty!" Lily shrieked.

Remus had a strange look on his face. "Very. They smell terrible."

"They smell like shit," Sirius added. "Literally."

"I can't smell them," James commented.

Remus got his 'teacher' look at once. "That is because canine's--dogs, wolves, et cetera--have better senses of smell than other animals--stags for instance."

"Ohh, I see," James said. "Well, I'm glad I'm a stag then, and not a canine."

"Well, I can see them, and that's bad enough," Annie said. "That's disgusting. Who's underwear are those anyway?"

Peter looked at them. "Um…they're the pink heart ones…Nott's, I think." Upon further investigation, the Marauders & Co found that they did have pink hearts on them. "The bright green ones were in Lestrange's wardrobe, and the purple and orange were by Avery's bed," Peter explained.

Remus grimaced. "Lovely. Well, here's the magazine that was under Rosier's bed." He held out a magazine full of, not naked witches, but naked wizards. 

Lily screamed and covered her eyes.

"Uh, Lily? The man on the cover is fully clothed," Remus said, trying not to laugh.

"So? It's still bad for virgin eyes," Lily said stubbornly.

Sirius grinned cockily. "True, but you're not a virgin." 

Everyone's jaws dropped. 

Sirius sniggered. "Yes, she is a virgin, I was joking. Or at least, I think I was."

Everyone closed their mouths.

"All right then. Here's Malfoy's knickers," Remus said, holding them out.

James looked at them strangely. "He has personalized _knickers_?" 

It was true; the knickers were white with _L. Malfoy_ printed on them in green and silver.

"And here's…Snape's diary!" Remus said, holding it out.

Sirius opened it with a flourish. "'_I, Severus Snape, am in Slytherin. I am sixteen years old. And I love--_'" Sirius suddenly broke off and his eyes blazed with anger. 

"Who?" James asked tentatively. 

"My Lily," Sirius spat. "And on the next page there's…_OH MY FUCKING GOD! HE HAD BETTER HAVE DONE THOSE FROM FUCKING IMAGINATION!_"

Remus peered over Sirius' shoulder. "That pervert. Lily, he drew three pictures of you naked!"

Lily glared at the book. "That fucking perverted Slytherin!"

Everyone stared at Lily. She blushed.

"Hurry for Flower, she finally spoke like a seventeen-year-old!" Sirius cheered. "I take it those were from imagination?"

"Sirius Orion Black, of course! I love you, I would never pose for him!" And she kissed Sirius passionately.

"Aww," everyone else teased.

Peter yawned. "Um, guys? I'm going to bed."

After a few minutes, Lily and Sirius' kiss ended and everyone else went to bed as well.

***********************************************************

The next morning, the Marauders & Co rose early and went down to breakfast. They carefully charmed the knickers up into the air above the Slytherin table with labels wand-written beside them.

"Perfect," Sirius said, grinning.

Annie grinned too. "As soon as ten Slytherins get here, the message will appear."

After fifteen minutes, the whole of Slytherin House came into the Great Hall. The message burst out, in flashing red and gold, 'WELCOME TO OUR WORLD!'

The Slytherins glared at them, when suddenly a Ravenclaw called out, "What the Hell are those?!"

The Slytherins looked up. Malfoy, Nott, Lestrange and Avery flushed angrily. "Black, Potter, Lupin, Pettigrew, you fucking bastards!" Malfoy yelled.

"Mr. Malfoy!" McGonagall shouted. "You have no evidence it was them, so don't shout out such vile language across the Hall! Ten points from Slytherin!"

The Marauders & Co sniggered.

McGonagall eyed them, but didn't say anything, as she didn't know what had happened.

"Shit!" Sirius exclaimed. Malfoy was talking to Carson. _Great, that fucking bastard of a Slytherin whore teacher is going to know what happened, and we all know who he'll blame! Damn!_

Carson approached the table. "Potter, Black, Lupin, Pettigrew, Starr, Evans, follow me, now."

They scowled and followed him.

Carson led them to the Slytherin common room. He whispered the password so they couldn't hear it and stepped aside. "Go in."

Sirius, who had his wand up his sleeve, muttered quietly, "Padfoot commands _finite incantatum_!"

James grinned, and Sirius winked.

When Carson entered the room, it was the same as before they had begun.

"Professor Carson, was there a reason you wanted to bring us here? And where is here, by the way?" Lily asked sweetly.

"This, Evans, is the Slytherin common room. Take a good look, Evans, as you'll never see this place again, as mudbloods are unworthy. And you know very well the reason I brought you here," Carson said quietly.

Lily ignored the mudblood comment and said, pretending to be confused, "No, I don't."

"Only moments ago, Malfoy told me that this room was decorated in the Gryffindor fashion. Now, how could that have happened?"

"Malfoy was lying, he told you that to get us in trouble, he didn't expect you to come here," Sirius said smoothly.

Remus nodded. "Yes sir, it makes perfect sense."

"Shut up you creature!" Carson snapped.

Tears welled in Remus' eyes and he spun on his heel and fled.

"Come back here Lupin!" Carson yelled.

The others left as well, but Sirius paused to say, "Carson, I believe you are the creature. You know very well Remus' condition, which is why you say such things. You are a prejudiced Slytherin bastard!" Then he turned and walked swiftly away.

"Fifty points from Gryffindor and detention for a week Black!" Carson yelled, stepping into the hallway after Sirius.

"Fine!" Sirius yelled back, rounding the corner. _That God damned, fucking bastard of a bloody Slytherin whore teacher! One of these fucking days, I'm going to fucking kill the bloody bastard!_ Sirius thought angrily, following the sounds of James and Lily pleading with somebody.

"Remus, open the door, please!" James said, talking through a door to an abandoned classroom.

Then Lily tried. "Remie, please open the door!"

The door didn't open. Annie and Peter were looking unsure of what to do, but Sirius knew exactly what to do.

"Guys," he whispered quietly, "I know what charms and spells Remus locks things with. I'm going to unlock the door and try to talk to him, all right? But I don't want you to follow. Don't come in until I open the door." They nodded, and Sirius stepped over to the door.

After performing several complex counter-charms and spells, Sirius got the door open. He slipped inside, looked around, and spotted Remus curled into a ball in the corner, sobbing quietly. _Oh, Remus. I wish everyone would know you for who you are and like you just the same. But that won't happen any time soon._

Sirius cautiously approached Remus. "Remus?" he said quietly.

Remus ignored him and continued sobbing.

"Come on Remie, please look at me," Sirius pleaded softly.

Remus finally looked up. "Sirius…I hate him! Why does he always…" He stopped speaking as he began to sob again, trying to stop.

Sirius hugged Remus comfortingly. "It's okay Remie. Go ahead and cry, I'm the only one here. You know I don't care if you cry or not."

Remus sobbed into Sirius' shoulder for ten minutes before he calmed down enough to speak. "Thanks Padfoot. Why is it that you're always my hero?"

Sirius smiled sadly. "I don't know. Canine instincts probably. Do you want the others to come in?"

"No, I think I'll go out. Have we missed the start of lessons?" Remus asked, wiping the last of his tears from his eyes.

Sirius checked his watch. "No, if we hurry, we can still make it to Charms."

"Good."

"Always the same," Sirius said fondly.

Remus smiled a bittersweet smile. "Yes, always the same. Same boring, crybaby, nerdy Remus J. Lupin."

"Remus, don't say that. You are _not_ boring, you are _not_ nerdy, and you are _not_ a bloody crybaby! You are interesting, sensitive, studious Remus J. Lupin and you are one Hell of a good friend!" Sirius said firmly.

Remus smiled shyly. "Thanks."

Sirius didn't say anything, but gave Remus a small smile. "Come on, the others are waiting. And besides, we have to get to Charms!" He left the room. Remus followed.

~*~

When classes were over for the day, the Marauders met in the dormitory.

"The full moon is next week," Remus remarked.

"Yeah, it is," Sirius replied.

Peter looked up from the Chocolate Frog he was eating. "It is the usual plan? We sneak out under the cloak, transform, I press the knot, we join Remus, you and Sirius get Moony under control, we go out?"

James nodded, but Remus said, "Probably. But there is a chance we won't go out."

Sirius looked at Remus in confusion. "Why's that?"

"The anniversary," Remus said simply.

James frowned. "The what?"

"Oh, I never explained…" Remus sighed. "All right. I really hate talking about that night, but I have to. You know that I was bitten when I was five, right? Well…

"It was the full moon of September. I was out walking in the woods, despite my parents' warnings. Suddenly, from behind me, I heard a growling noise. I turned around, and a huge--well, huge to me--werewolf was bounding towards me. I turned and tried to run, but I tripped and fell forward. The werewolf attacked, clawing me and biting my shoulder. I thought I was dead for sure. But there was suddenly howling in the distance and the werewolf ran away, towards the howling. I was bitten, I was poisoned. And it happened in September. So now in September, the transformations are especially hard." Tears were in Remus' eyes, but he swiped them away.

Peter nodded and went back to his Chocolate Frog, but James and Sirius were a little more understanding.

"Oh, Remus. Why didn't you tell us before?" James asked gently.

"I never had to. In second, third, and fourth year, you couldn't join me anyway, in fifth year in September you weren't ready yet, and in sixth year, Sirius was in the Hospital Wing with that really bad pneumonia, remember? I don't like talking about it, so I never did," Remus explained.

Sirius put his arm around Remus. He didn't say anything, which was unusual for him, or so it seemed. _Oh Remus. You really should have said something. I've always wondered why you looked so awful after the September moon. I wish I hadn't had that pneumonia…damn Corvus! _Corvus had slipped a potion in Sirius' final meal the previous summer, so that he would get really sick on an important occasion. Corvus had hoped it would've been at a Quidditch match, or something else like that, but no. It was just the first full moon of the year. _Bastard._

***********************************************************

It was now the end of November. As it happened, that September night they _hadn't_ gone out. But there had been October's full moon, and November's, which had been two nights prior.

James was talking a mile a minute. "And the first Quidditch game is tomorrow, do you think I should call a last minute practice, and isn't it supposed to rain tomorrow and you non-Quidditch players are going to be at the game, right, and--"

"Easy James, slow down!" Annie said. "No, we've had enough practice, no, it's not supposed to rain and Lily, you answer that last question."

Lily smiled. "Well, I'm going to be at the game. Peter?"

"Uh-huh, sure," Peter said. "How about you Remus?"

"Um…I think so. I plan to be anyway," Remus said hoarsely. "That is, if Madam Pomfrey will let me out of the Tower."

Sirius made a sympathetic noise. "Still not feeling better Remie?"

Remus shook his head. "I feel fine, but I look and sound like shit."

"Language," Lily said distractedly, staring at Sirius.

Sirius rolled his eyes, then up and kissed Lily deeply. "Why have you been staring at me all day Flower?"

"You're just so incredibly beautiful…" Lily murmured dreamily. Then she turned beet red. "Oh, did I say that out loud?! I'm so mortified!"

Sirius smiled in a very sexy way. "Beautiful, huh? Well, you're not too bad yourself…" Then he pulled Lily onto his lap and kissed her. She ran her fingers through his silky hair and they proceeded to snog. 

Suddenly they heard "Flibbertiggibet," from outside the portrait hole. Sirius and Lily broke apart instantly.

"Mr. Lupin, I have spoken to Professor Dumbledore. He says that if you are really feeling fine, he sees no reason why you should stay in the Tower all the time," Madam Pomfrey said.

Remus waited until she left the common room before he grinned happily. "Well, I guess I'll definitely be attending your match!"

***********************************************************

The next day dawned clear and cool. James roused the Quidditch team and they all trooped out to the field. "So, it's the first match of the year. Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. We have a superb team. We have Sirius Black and Andromeda Starr as our beaters, John Wood (*5) as our Keeper, Mundungus Fletcher as our Seeker, and Arabella Figg, Curtis Johnson (*6) and me as our Chasers! We are all excellent, so I'm sure we can beat the Slytherins!"

They took their positions and the Slytherins soon came onto the pitch. They too took their positions (Crabbe and Goyle as beaters, Snape as Keeper, Malfoy as Seeker, and Rosier, Nott, and Lestrange as Chasers.)

The commentator, Ludo Bagman (*7) began to commentate. "Welcome to the first Quidditch game of the year! Playing today is the Gryffindor team, Black, Starr, Wood, Flatcher, Figg, Johnson aaaaand Potter! Their opponents are the Slytherin team, Crabbe, Goyle, Snape, Malfoy, Rosier, Nott aaaaand Lestrange! Madam Hooch steps out and, yes, there's the whistle! They're off!"

Sirius flew around the stadium, protecting his team members while James and the other Chasers scored three goals. Suddenly he saw a bludger stop in midair and heard for the stands, right where Lily, Peter, and Remus were sitting. The other stopped as well and headed towards the teachers' stands. _Shit! Annie's too far away to get to either place in time! What do I do?_ Sirius realized the going towards his friends was closer to them than the one heading towards the teachers. Sirius flew at breakneck speed to reach the bludger in time. He swung his club hard and the bludger swerved away, but he could see that it would head back in a moment. Meanwhile, he had to get to the other bludger. He flew towards it, again at breakneck speed, yelling as he passed James, "Call a time out! Something's wrong with the bludgers!" He hit the bludger as hard as he could, it swerved away, but again, it headed back. 

The whistle blew. Sirius landed beside the rest of the team. "Okay team, Sirius says there's something wrong with the bludgers."

"There is! They keep heading for the bloody stands! I hit them, but they barely swerve!" Sirius yelled.

Gus broke in, "I think I can find the Snitch in a few more minutes. If you beaters can hold the bludgers, I think I can win this for us. Okay Captain?"

James nodded,. And they all took off again.

"And now, after Black seems top have lost control of the bludgers, Potter has created a new play!" Ludo yelled.

"Get it right Bagman!" Sirius yelled at the top of his voice. "I didn't lose control of the bludgers, the bludgers are fixed!"

Ludo laughed into the megaphone. "Well, you all heard him! But anyway, it's Potter, Potter passes to Johnson, back to Potter, to Figg, back to Potter…Potter scores!"

Sirius turned Ludo out, then focused on keeping the bludger away from the teachers. Annie was doing the same thing a few hundred yards away. Suddenly Sirius heard Ludo shout, "And Fletcher sees the Snitch! He dives…and he's got it! Gryffindor wins, two hundred to thirty!"

Sirius landed with the rest of the team, cheering along with everyone else. People started pouring out of the stands.

"Sirius, you were brilliant! Especially when you saved us and the teachers from those messed up bludgers!" Peter squeaked.

Lily kissed Sirius on the cheek. Sirius kissed Lily on the lips.

"You truly were brilliant Sirius, James, Annie, everyone," said Remus, his voice still hoarse, still looking pale. In fact, he looked paler than he had the previous day.

"Thanks. Remus, are you okay? You look paler than yesterday," Sirius asked, concerned.

Remus frowned and shrugged. "I'm fine. You know I don't like heights, being in the stands probably caused it. Or maybe it was watching a bludger come close enough to almost smack you in the face."

Sirius laughed, then joined the huge mob swarming towards the Gryffindor common room for a party.

***********************************************************

The next day, December first, Sirius remembered what Ursa had said when she left him. "Open this in private and not until December." Well, it was December and it was private. So Sirius opened up the letter.

****

Dear Sirius,

I am tired of your father's cruel ways, and so I left him on December first. Sirius, sweetheart, I am truly sorry for the abuse that has happened to you over the past few years. This year, when you come home for Christmas, things will be different, I promise. 

Love, Mum

Sirius wanted to be happy about this, but living the way he did had taught him to be suspicious of every nice thing his parents did to him. For him. Sirius sighed. _What do I do? Believe Ursa and go home happily, or think she's lying and go home afraid? Well, I suppose since the letter seems like it could possibly be true, I'll believe Ursa. I only hope she doesn't fucking disappoint me._

"Hey Sirius, what're you doing?" James asked, walking over to him.

"Nothing. Just…thinking," Sirius replied.

James gasped. "The great Sirius Black was _thinking_?!"

"Well, how else do you think I got to be a Prefect?" Sirius asked sarcastically.

James pretended to think hard. "Um…maybe McGonagall secretly has a thing for you and she said, 'Oh, let's have Black as a Prefect'."

"James, that's gross," Remus said, coming over to their corner. "Sirius is second in the year and you know it."

James grinned. "Yes, but who's first? Me."

"First in what?" Lily asked, sitting next to Sirius.

"The year," Remus replied.

Lily's face lit up. "Ooh, you're talking about what place people are in the year? I can tell all of you your places, if you want. James and I are tied for first, Sirius and Remus are second--"

"You're second too? Why aren't you a Prefect then?" Sirius asked. "And how did you know that Lily?"

Remus was quiet, so Lily said, "Well, the Head boy and girl get to know the rankings of students, but we're not supposed to tell other students a ranking that isn't theirs."

Sirius looked at Remus, but he still didn't say anything. "Remus? Why aren't you a Pre…hang on, is it because you're…you know, a…"

"Werewolf?" Remus suggested quietly. "Yes, it is. Most of the teachers were okay with it, but the Potions bastard wasn't. And Trelawney 'foresaw' that I would 'corrupt other's minds with my evil'."

"Language," Lily said halfheartedly. "Remus, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have--"

Remus' eyes suddenly blazed with anger. "Would you all stop treating me like I'm made of fucking glass?! I'm not! I can take care of myself around my bloody _friends_! God!" And he stormed off.

James' jaw dropped. "What the Hell just happened?"

Sirius' eyes grew round. "Shit! The fucking full moon was just a few nights ago!"

"Oh!" Lily exclaimed.

"Damn," James added.

"Should one of us go after him?" Lily asked.

James looked at Sirius. "Padfoot? How about you?"

__

I suppose I could…Poor Remie, he'll be mortified. Aloud he said, "Well, I guess so." He went up to the dormitory. Gus was just waking up, and Peter was picking up his dirty socks from the previous day.

"Have either of you seen Remus?" Sirius asked.

Gus shook his head, but Peter said, "Stag. Cloak."

"Where?" Sirius asked again. 

"Bed. His," Peter replied.

"Er…what are you talking about Peter?" Gus asked.

"Nothing. Come on, hurry up, well be late." Gus dressed and left with Peter.

Sirius sat on Remus' bed, after feeling to make sure he wasn't sitting _on_ Remus. He slid his feet over until they hit Remus' legs. Before Remus could scuffle away, Sirius grabbed the Cloak and pulled it off Remus.

Remus turned his head.

"Remus, come on, don't be like that," Sirius said.

Remus sighed and looked at Sirius. "I didn't mean to yell at Lily. But the moon is still almost full, and the wolf is still near the surface, and whenever people start to feel sorry about saying something about me being a werewolf or something when the wolf is close to the surface, I get all defensive, but I didn't mean to snap at Lily, or at any of you and I--"

"Remus, stop babbling. We all know, and we understand. We all know how it is," Sirius said.

Remus nodded and followed Sirius to the common room. It was Saturday, and they had an idea for a great prank to play on Snape. They were going to take a few pages from Snape's diary, magically enlarge them, and post them in the corridors.

"Let's pick some pages," Annie suggested. 

Sirius flipped the diary open and read, "_Last night Black and Lu_--No fucking way! Not that one!"

"What is it?" Remus asked, reading over Sirius' shoulder.

"Remus, don't--"

But it was too late. Remus had read the entry about the night he had almost killed Snape.

"Sirius?! It was you this whole time?! You lying son of a bitch, you said you didn't know! Do you know how I felt that next morning, when I found out?! You bastard! I thought you were one of my best friends!" Remus picked up the diary from where Sirius had dropped it and threw it as hard as he could at Sirius. It hit him in the eye, and a large bruise immediately began to form. Remus spun on his heel and ran out of the room. 

James hesitantly picked up the diary. "_Last night Black and Lupin almost killed me. Lupin is a bloody werewolf! Black told me where to go and Lupin would have attacked if Potter hadn't saved me…_Sirius, it was you?! What kind of a fucking idiot are you?!" He punched Sirius in the jaw. Annie followed suit, and Lily slapped him across the cheek. Peter just glared at him. They all ran after Remus.

Sirius sunk down to the floor. _Oh my God. I never thought Remus would find out. But he did. I am such a fucking bastard. I regretted it the moment I did it, I paid the price, and now I'm paying again? No, I'm fucking paying the rest. Will Remus ever forgive me? Damn, I should have told the truth then! Fuck, fuck, fuck!_

***********************************************************

A week passed. None of the Marauders & Co would speak to Sirius. Remus wouldn't even look at him. But he had a plan. He would write a letter, and charm it so that the receiver would have to read it, whether they wanted to or not. _I hope it works. I would do it in person, but Remus won't even look at me._

Sirius started to write the letter, and a few hours later, it was finished.

****

Dear Remus,

After recognizing the owl, I am sure you are trying not to read this, but you keep reading anyway. This is because I charmed the letter. Normally, I wouldn't, but what I have to say is a matter of dire importance.

Remus, I am truly sorry for telling Snape, and then lying about it. I know you felt horrible the morning after. I know James could have died, I know Snape could have died. And I know how much trust you give to your friends. I used that trust Remus. And I'm sorry. 

The only reason I told Snape in the first place was because he was always being awful to you. And…I don't know why I thought if I told him to go to the Willow, it would be just like a prank. Because it wasn't. It was worse. Remus, believe me, I never meant to hurt you. James is my _best_ friend, but you…you're my _favorite_ friend. I know that you probably won't forgive me. I know that sorry isn't enough. But it's all I have to give. 

Sirius

Sirius only hoped it would be enough.

***********************************************************

The next morning, Sirius saw his owl soar down to Remus. He saw Remus look at the owl with distaste, but he reached for the letter. He saw Remus' eyes widen as he tried not to open the letter, saw Remus read it. And then he saw Remus set the letter down when he was done, instead of throwing it or ripping it like he expected.

Remus stood up and walked over to Sirius and said coolly, "Come with me please."

__

Scary, how he sounds like a teacher, Sirius thought as he followed Remus.

"Sirius…from the letter, I know you're sorry. And I forgive you. But you do realize it'll take a lot to gain my trust again? That we will probably never be like we were?" Remus said, keeping the cool tone in his voice.

Sirius looked at the floor. "I thought as much," he said quietly. Remus didn't reply. Sirius glanced up and saw tears dancing in Remus' eyes. "Um…Remus?"

"Yes?" Remus replied, the cool tone faltering.

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked, hoping Remus would tell him.

Remus bit his lip. "Well…I've known you since first year. And now I find out you're responsible for one of the worst moments in my life at Hogwarts, I realize our friendship probably won't be the same…how would you feel?"

"Like shit," Sirius said quietly.

"You see?" Remus said.

Sirius blinked and nodded. "Yes. How long…how long will it take?"

"A while," Remus replied. "Sirius…you know it's only partly because of you. It's also partly me. Werewolves don't trust others easily, and when you break that trust, well…it's usually over. But not with you. Never with you, because…you were there for me."

Sirius nodded and went back into the Hall, followed by Remus. 

~*~

During Potions, Carson insulted Remus the whole lesson. Whether it was an indirect comment about Dark Creatures, or whispers in Remus' ear, he was being cruel. At the end of the lesson, Carson told them their homework, and Sirius blew his top.

"Homework, write a three roll essay on poisons for werewolves embedded in Potions."

Sirius shook with fury. "Professor Carson, you are a prejudiced bastard! Or maybe you're just stupid. Werewolves are only dangerous during the full moon. Everyone knows that. And it's illegal to kill werewolves except in self defense. So why should we do this assignment?"

"One hundred points from Gryffindor!" Carson shouted. "If you ever speak to me in such a way again, I will make sure you're expelled Black!"

"I'd rather be expelled than have a cruel, sadistic, prejudiced bastard for a teacher!"

Carson glared at Sirius. "Fifty more points! Class dismissed!"

As the Marauders & Co walked out of the classroom, Annie said, "Sirius, why did you do that? Oh, I know, you're being stupid again."

"Andromeda," James said warningly. "But really Sirius, you could have gotten in deep shit!"

"Language! And Sirius, what'll the others say when they find out you've lost one hundred and fifty points in one lesson?" Lily asked.

Sirius glared. "I don't give a damn about what other people think. I don't give a sweet flying fuck about what Carson does. I do _not_ let cruel bastards insult my friends. No matter what."

Remus gave Sirius a small smile through the tears that were running down his cheeks. "Thanks Sirius."

***********************************************************

Over the next week, Sirius and Remus built up their friendship again. But one incident really helped them.

The Marauders were walking down to the lake on the Saturday before the Christmas holidays started. Down in the entrance hall, they ran into Snape.

"One of you has my dia--log," Snape said accusingly.

"Your dialog Snape? No, I don't we've picked up any dialogs," James said.

Snape grimaced and lowered his voice, though the entrance hall was empty. "Fine, one of you has my _diary_."

"You, Snape? Keep a diary?" Remus asked mockingly.

"Shut it Lupin, you know very well I do, as one of you stole it."

Sirius put on an innocent face. "Us? Steal? Never!"

Snape scowled. "I know you four and your girlfriends turned our common room to match yours. On the same day my diary went missing. So obviously you stole it."

"Your diary goes missing and you don't bother to get it for over a month?" Remus asked.

"I merely thought I had misplaced it Lupin. But now it's painfully obvious that you stole it. You wanted to see what you did to me last year, werewolf," Snape sneered.

Remus made a whimpering sound, almost canine like, and ran away. James and Peter ran after him, but Sirius punched Snape in the nose, effectively breaking it.

"Don't _ever_ say anything of that nature to Remus again, or I'll break more than your nose," Sirius threatened. "And here's your precious diary," he added as he chucked it at Snape. Then he hurried off in the direction Remus, James and Peter had.

"If you hadn't been so stupid Black, I wouldn't have found out!" Snape yelled after him.

Sirius ignored him and started hunting for the others. Since his Animagus form was a dog, his sense of smell had become sharper, even when he wasn't transformed. He caught Remus' scent and headed in that direction. He turned the corner and walked up the Transfiguration corridor. James and Peter were outside the Transfiguration classroom, trying to open the door.

"Remus is in there," James told Sirius in an undertone. "He's put all sorts of spells and charms on the door and neither one of us can break them all. Hang on, you know them all, right? Why don't you go in, like you usually do?"

"James, I can't. Since he found out about that night, you know things have been different between us," Sirius protested.

James looked into Sirius' eyes. "Sirius, that may be, but we all know you care about him more than the rest of us. I may be your best friend, but Remus…I think he's your favorite friend. And I don't mean that in a jealous way. Sirius, you've comforted him so many times, I'm sure you're still the one he'll open up to at times like this."

Sirius sighed softly. "I don't know James…" But he approached the door, muttered all the counter spells, and opened the door.

Remus was curled into a ball in the corner. He wasn't crying, but Sirius could tell he was hurt.

"Erm…Remus?" Sirius said softly.

Remus murmured quietly, "Please Sirius, go away. Things aren't the same as they used to be."

"Remus, I know things aren't the same. But I'm not leaving. Even if you weren't speaking to me I'd be here, because you're one of my best friends. Remus, I care about you, and I don't like you see you hurt. This time, it's my fault you were the subject of Snape's insults, and you know I'm sorry. I'm not about to go away," Sirius said, fiercely but softly.

Remus looked up. "Really? You're going to stay here even though I don't want you to, you still care about me that much? You care about that much, even though I'm not as…trusting of you anymore?"

"Of course Remus. Even if you hated me, I'd still care about you."

Remus smiled. "Sirius, you know what?"

"What?"

"I think our friendship is almost back to normal."  


Sirius looked at Remus in surprise and confusion. "But how? I mean, a few hours ago it was as far from normal as possibly able to be and still be our friendship."

"Well, what just happened proved to me that you were still as much my friend as ever. And I think I will be able to trust you again," Remus explained.

Sirius felt tears spring to his eyes. He forced them away. _Never show your true self to anyone, you git_, Sirius thought angrily.

"Sirius? Are you crying?" Remus asked in surprise.

"No," Sirius said, in an unconvincing voice.

"It's okay to let people see you cry Sirius. It's okay to show your feelings," Remus said, standing up and walking over to where Sirius stood.

Sirius snorted. "No, it's not. Not for me anyway. Not after what everyone thinks of me. A prankster who has a really foul mouth."

Remus laughed softly. "Not everyone sees you as just that. Not Lily, not James, not Annie, and not me. You can't tell with Peter."

"Then what do you see me as?" Sirius asked.

"A good friend--usually. Someone who can be very compassionate when friends are down. A fun-loving person who tends to color outside the lines. And a prankster with a really foul mouth," Remus answered.

Sirius smiled and said, "Let's go join James and Peter."

***********************************************************

It was Friday, the day the holidays started. The Marauders & Co would be separated for two whole weeks. Peter, Lily and Annie were staying at Hogwarts, Remus, Sirius and James were going home.

On the train, Remus Sirius and James talked about possible prank ideas. When the train stopped at Kings Cross, they said their good-byes. 

Sirius walked over to Ursa, and she apparated them home.

When they arrived, the first thing Sirius noticed was Corvus. _That lying bitch! It was a plot!_ Sirius thought angrily. "Liar," he muttered extremely quietly.

"Ah, Sirius. I believe we have much to catch up on. So--straight to it. Take off your shirt," Corvus snapped. Sirius quickly complied. "Lie on your stomach on the floor." Sirius did so. Then Corvus whipped him, punched him, slapped him, kicked him, and let Lyra kick him.

***********************************************************

Things went on like this until Christmas. Sirius never received Christmas gifts from his parents, he was forced to watch them open their gifts and eat their wonderful meal that _he_ had prepared. Of course, he was never hurt physically on Christmas, only verbally. That was his 'gift'. Much to his horror, Lyra received a pain of pointy steel toe boots. She begged and pleaded to use them, and Corvus, that bastard, allowed her to.

***********************************************************

After Christmas, things went one like they had before. Sirius was hurt every day, then a few days before he was due to go back, Corvus used magic to heal up his wounds.

On the day he had to go back, Ursa apparated him to the station. Sirius was hurt badly. Not physically, though he _was_ a little tender, like always, but mentally. His mother had lied to him, given him hope, then crushed it. He had spent Christmas like all the other Christmases of abuse. And this holiday had been worse, because of all the insults he had been tossed. Sirius slipped onto the train instead of meeting James and Remus like usual. He took a compartment near the end of the train and also near some Slytherins, so that James and Remus were less likely to look for him. _I want to see them, but at the same time I don't. Maybe it's because I'm obviously not like myself. Maybe it's because I'm…_afraid_ of them. I am, God, I am. A little. I'm afraid they'll betray me too._

For about an hour, Sirius' hiding place remained hidden. But the he smelled Remus approaching, without James. _Damn werewolf sense of smell_, Sirius thought, trying to veil his scent. But it was no good. Remus entered the compartment.

"Sirius?" he said softly.

Sirius shrank back into the corner.

"Sirius, what's wrong? You act like a scared, lost, abused puppy," Remus asked curiously.

"R-remus, come over here, l-lock the d-door, soundproof the door, and don't t-tell a soul what I'm about to t-tell you," Sirius whimpered.

Remus looked greatly concerned, as Sirius was never so…afraid, so emotional. But he cast all of the spells and sat next to Sirius. "Sirius, what is it?" 

To Sirius' horror and Remus' surprise, Sirius began to sob.

"Sirius!" Remus exclaimed softly.

"D-don't. P-please," Sirius choked out. "Remus…w-what I'm going to tell y-you, you can't t-tell anyone, not James, n-not Peter, not L-lily, not Annie. And especially n-not the teach-teachers. You _can't._"

Remus slipped a comforting arm around Sirius' shoulders. "I won't Siri, I promise."

"My parents…C-corvus and Ur-ursa. They…they…" Sirius couldn't continue, as a fresh wave of sobs made him cry into Remus' shoulder.

"It's all right, you can tell me when you're ready," Remus said, rubbing Sirius' back. 

Sirius flinched and pulled away. "Don't t-touch me Remus."

"Why?" Remus asked, confused.

"Be-because. My parents…they…they…they abuse me!" Sirius burst out, tears running down his cheeks.

Remus' jaw dropped. "What?!"

Sirius sniffled and told Remus everything, about the abuse, when it started, how it worked, and about these holidays.

"Oh, Siri," Remus said sympathetically. "You've gone through so much. And this is the first time you've told anyone, or cried about it, isn't it?"

Sirius nodded miserably. "I-I would have told you all sooner, but…none of you seemed to realize anything was wrong, so I didn't. You were the only one who noticed anything different. And James did, a little. He's supposed to be my best friend, you would think he, of all people, would notice!"

Remus hugged Sirius carefully. "Sirius, we didn't really notice because you never said anything, and Corvus healed everything…you have to tell a teacher."

"Remie, I can't, they--I--I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I--"

"Sirius! Calm down, you're starting to hyperventilate. Listen to me Siri. You _should_ tell a teacher, but if you don't, that's not my business. But at least tell the others," Remus said.

Sirius took a deep breath and nodded. "I-I'll try."

"Good. Sirius, if you don't mind me asking…why did it start? You gave me a date, that was when you started dating Lily, wasn't it? Was it because of her being a Muggle born?" Remus asked.

"Partly," Sirius said quietly. "But the other part…I can't tell you Remus, you--never mind."

Remus bit his lip. "Sirius…be honest with me. Is your father prejudiced against…everything?"

Sirius looked at his feet. "Yes."  


"Was part of the reason…me?"

Sirius nodded mutely.

Remus' eyes filled with tears. "Oh Sirius, I'm sorry, I _told _you all you wouldn't want to be friends with me, and look what happened to you!"

"Remus, I don't regret it all. You are my friend, and it's not your fault. It's that bastard's fault. Remus, in a sense, I love you. All my friends, because you're…my family," Sirius said, with a fire in his eyes that Remus had never seen before.

Remus smiled and hugged Sirius, being careful of his back. "Come on, let's go find James."

Sirius nodded. "All right, as soon as my eyes go back to normal. Remus? Don't ever tell anyone what happened here today. Don't tell the others I cried, don't tell the others I showed my emotions, and don't tell them I love them. Please?"

"Of course I won't Siri, you can count on that."

Sirius smiled. "Oh, and Remie?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks."


	4. Of The Telling and The Other Telling

Disclaimer: Characters belong to J.K. Rowling, unfamiliar and previously mentioned ones are mine.

A/N: So, how will James, Peter, Lily and Annie react? We'll all see in…da da da da! TELLING JAMES, PETER, LILY AND ANNIE! Well, the chapter is called The Telling and The Other Telling, but whatever. THIS IS NOT SLASH!! REMUS AND SIRIUS ARE JUST VERY, VERY, VERY CLOSE! **Bold** is dreams.

(*) Remus knows where sore spots are by…werewolf senses, I guess.

(*2) Just a little irony. Remus wasn't there for Sirius during the Lily/James murder thing, was he?

Sirius followed Remus to where James was sitting. Right outside the door, Sirius stopped. "Remus, I can't. I can't!"

Remus took hold of Sirius' shoulders and looked directly into Sirius' eyes. "Sirius, yes you can. Sirius, you _need_ to tell someone. You _should_ tell a teacher, or Dumbledore, but since you won't, you need to tell the others."

"I…I know. But--"

"Sirius, I don't mean to be harsh, but you _have_ to go tell James. He's your best friend for God's sake! He won't look down on you for it," Remus said firmly.

"You're right Rem," Sirius sighed. He reached out his hand to grasp the handle, then pulled back. "What if someone overhears?" Remus just stared at him. "All right, all right." Sirius pulled open the door to the compartment and stepped in.

"Remus, did you find--? Oh, Sirius, never mind," James said. Then he saw the look on Sirius' face. "Sirius, what--?"

Sirius looked to Remus, who nodded and cast several charms on the compartment. "James, what I'm going to tell you…you can't tell anyone else, especially not the teachers."

"I won't…what is it?" James asked, concerned.

Sirius took a deep breath. "James…my…my parents…th-they…they abuse me." Sirius felt the tears well up in his eyes. He didn't bother to force them away.

"Oh God…Sirius," James said, the color draining from his face.

Sirius sniffled, hating himself for crying _again_ and told James everything about the abuse that he had told Remus.

When Sirius had finished, he was crying harder than when he had told Remus.

James got up, crossed the compartment, and put his arm around Sirius. "Why didn't you tell us before?"

"I c-couldn't!" Sirius said. "And n-now that I've to-told you, I'm afraid that…s-someone else m-might find ou..." Sirius stopped speaking as a wave of nausea overtook him, and he vomited on the floor of the compartment.

Sirius' face burned. _Oh, shit, _why _did I have to throw up, wh_y?

James hadn't moved, though it was obvious he was grossed out. "Are you all right Sirius?"

Sirius didn't answer, just flushed darker.

Remus walked over to Sirius, avoiding the puddle on the floor. "Siri?"

Sirius looked up. "Sorry," he muttered, embarrassed.

"Are you all right?" James repeated.

Sirius nodded. "Yeah…I don't why I…" 

Remus put his arm around Sirius' shoulders too. "It's all right Sirius, most people would have done the same thing." He cast a spell and the puddle of vomit disappeared. "Should I take the locking and soundproof charms off yet?"

Sirius nodded miserably.

James sighed. "Life is so fucked up."

No one answered that profound statement.

Remus got up and undid all the spells on the compartment.

The three friends sat in silence. After a moment, James pulled out his copy of _Quidditch Through the Ages_, and Remus began to read _Romeo and Juliet_, for the hundredth time. 

After about an hour, Remus looked up from _Romeo and Juliet_ to see silent tears still running down Sirius' cheeks.

"Sirius, what's wrong?" he asked. "Is it still…?"

"No," Sirius said hoarsely. 

"Then what is it?" James asked, making his place with his wand.

Sirius sighed. "Lyra."

"Lyra?" Remus asked, confused.

Sirius nodded. "Before…everything, we got along okay. She was my baby sister. Then Corvus, the son of a bitch, started to abuse me. He'd always been…violent. But now that I'm about to leave home…I'm just worried he'll start hurting her."

James frowned. "But why do you care? She's part of it too."

"James, it's not her fault! Corvus and Ursa corrupted her! She's been _brought up_ to think I'm a 'bad doggy'!" Sirius yelled.

"Easy Sirius, I didn't know," James said quietly.

Sirius sighed. "I know."

~*~

When they got to Hogwarts, Sirius, James and Remus went up to the Tower. They said the password and found Lily and Annie playing chess and Peter watching them.

"Can I tell you something?" Sirius asked.

"Of course," Lily said. Annie and Peter nodded.

"You have to swear you won't tell any of the teachers," Sirius said.

Peter looked solemn. "Marauder's honor."

"Marauders' girlfriends' honor," Lily and Annie chorused together.

Sirius took a deep breath and told them about the abuse, the familiar tears coursing down his cheeks.

When Sirius finished talking, Lily looked horrified. "Oh, Siri, I'm sorry, if I wasn't your girlfriend, you wouldn't be treated so badly! If you want to break up now that I know, I'll understand, and--"

"Flower," Sirius began, "I still love you and I don't blame you at all. You _or_ Remus. All right? I blame damned Corvus and Ursa."

Lily flung her arms around Sirius. He bit his lip and winced. "Lily…don't do that for awhile. Not till February at least."

"Oh, did I hurt you? I'm so sorry!"

"I'm not made of fucking glass you know Lily! God, don't treat me any differently. I just want to be _normal_!" Sirius yelled, before storming off to the dormitories.

Lily and Remus exchanged looks. "What did I start?" Lily asked rhetorically.

"Never mind Lily, he'll come around," James said.

"James Potter, you could be a little more feeling! Sirius is your best friend for God's sake!" Lily yelled.

James yelled back, "Lily, I'm trying. I just…I don't know what to say!"

Peter looked uneasily to Remus.

"Guys, stop arguing. Think for a minute…won't your voices carry up to the dormitory?" Annie asked.

Lily and James paled. "You're right love, we shouldn't fight because of this," James said.

"I'm going up there to see how he's doing," Remus said.

"But I'm the one who--" Lily began.

"Lily, Sirius is more likely to talk to me. No offense, just…wait for a minute," Remus said, starting up the stairs.

Meanwhile, Sirius had been listening to Lily and James argue. _God, why did I tell them? Everything was better off before they knew. Maybe…_ Sirius' thoughts were interrupted by Remus coming in.

They were silent. After awhile, Sirius spoke.

"Things have reversed now, haven't they?" he asked.

"Hmm?" Remus asked.

"Well, I was always the one to come find you and comfort you. Now it's the other way around," Sirius said bitterly.

"You can't always be the brave and strong one Sirius," Remus said gently, sitting beside him.

Sirius laughed harshly. "_Brave and strong_? Are you kidding? Remus, you don't know what goes on inside my head. If you did…oh, never mind."

Remus gently touched Sirius' arm. "No, tell me. If I did, what?"

"If you knew what goes inside my head…you'd know I'm anything but strong," Sirius said quietly.

Remus' eyes widened. "After telling us, you feel like…like…we've stripped your outer bravado off and…now we think you're…weak, or…something. Am I right?"

Sirius nodded wordlessly.

"Oh, Siri," Remus sighed, gently embracing him. "We don't think any different of you."

"Lily does. You all do, even if you don't want to admit it," Sirius countered.

Remus opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. He didn't say anything.

"See?"

Remus, still acting like a fish, finally found his voice. "Sirius, honestly, we don't. Well, at least _I_ don't. And I have a sneaking suspicion the others don't either."

Sirius looked at Remus with tears in his eyes. "Thanks Remie," he said, before burying his face into Remus' shoulder and crying.

"It's all right," Remus said, rubbing Sirius back, being careful to avoid places that were sore. (*)

"All I've done today is cry," Sirius mumbled, his voice muffled by his tears and Remus' shoulder.

Remus smiled sadly. "Crying can be a good thing. It can also be bad, if that's all you do."

Sirius looked up, his face tear-streaked. "That's not all you do Rem,"

"I wasn't referring to myself…" Remus protested.

"Yes, you were. You have a right to cry," Sirius said.

"Listen to your own wisdom," Remus said pointedly. 

"Point taken."

There was a knock at the door. James, Peter, Lily and Annie came in.

"Sirius, I'm sorry, I was just concerned, and--"

Sirius held up his hand. "I was overreacting Flower, don't feel sorry."

"Well, so was I," Lily countered.

"No you weren't, I was."

"Sirius, you are so--"

Lily was cut off by Sirius' mouth over hers. After their long and passionate kiss, Lily and Sirius resumed their argument.

"Lily, really, I was overreacting!"

"I was too!"

James tuned them out and turned to Annie, Peter and Remus. "They are the only couple I know who can kiss furiously then resume an argument." 

Lily and Sirius stopped arguing upon hearing this. "Good point," Sirius said.

James was about to say something when Gus walked in. He took one look at the girls and turned right back around and left.

"We'd better go," Annie said. "Come on Lily." The two girls left, and Gus came in.

"I dunno know about you guys, but I'm going to bed," he said. He fell onto his bed and pulled the hangings shut to prove his point.

The Marauders also went to sleep.

~*~

****

Corvus had a gun. He shot Remus with a silver bullet, shot Lily with a regular bullet. **"Boy, you're going to wish you'd never been born!" Corvus came at Sirius and began to beat him. Sirius tried to fight back, but it was no use. Corvus nearly killed him, but stopped short. "Now you're going to watch me do to your sister what I can't do to you!" Corvus raped a screaming Lyra. Ursa was just watching. Corvus then turned to Sirius with the gun. He aimed the gun and…**

"AAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHH!" Sirius yelled out loud, waking himself and everyone else in the dormitory.

Remus and James immediately dashed to Sirius' bed.

"Siri, are you all right?" Remus asked.

Sirius shook his head, but said out loud, mostly so Gus and Peter would leave him alone, "Yeah, just a nightmare."

Gus and Peter immediately rolled over and fell asleep again. 

James and Remus sat at the foot of Sirius' bed and Remus cast a sound charm around the bed. "Sirius, what really happened?"

"It was a nightmare, that was true. Corvus was…being Corvus. Don't worry, nothing life threatening," Sirius said.

James frowned, but decided to let it be. "Well, all right, but remember, I'm always available to talk."

Remus nodded. "Me too."

The two climbed out of Sirius' bed and into their own. 

Sirius lay back on the pillows and sighed. _I'm surprised Remus bought those half-lies. But I can't tell them what happened in the dream, they'll insist that I tell a teacher about the--_

Sirius' thoughts were interrupted by Remus suddenly crawling back into Sirius' bed. "Okay, out with it, what was it really about? The dream, I mean."

"I--" Sirius felt the all too familiar pricks in the corner of his eyes. _I will _not_ cry again!_ He forced the tears away. "I--you--Lily--Corvus was--and Lyra--Ursa was just watching--then a gun, and--"

"Siri, you're not making any sense. _What happened_?" Remus said gently yet firmly.

"Corvus had a gun. He killed you and Lily. Then he was beating me. Then he stopped just short of killing me. He--he--raped Lyra, Ursa just watched. Then he came at me with the gun, aimed it and I woke up screaming," Sirius said, still holding his tears back.

Remus sighed, and got into bed with Sirius. "You can cry you know. I already told you that. Well, you already told you that. Go on. The charms are still in place."

Sirius sighed and lay down, burying his face in the pillow and crying.

"Do you want me to leave?" Remus asked, moving to leave.

Sirius grabbed Remus' arm. "Stay, please!" he cried out desperately. "I…it sounds dumb, but…I'm afraid you'll be gone forever."

Remus lay down next to Sirius. "No, Sirius. It's not dumb. And I'll always be there for you, always. (*2)"

"Thanks again Remie," Sirius muttered as he drifted off to sleep.

**************************************************************

The next morning, Remus slipped out of Sirius' bed before anyone else awoke. Had it been only the Marauders in the room, he would have stayed, but Gus' mind tended to scrape the gutter, and he didn't really want gross rumors spreading around the school.

Sirius woke as Remus was pulling on his shoes. "Morning," he said sleepily.

"Morning," Remus replied, looking around for his hat.

Sirius staggered off to go to the bathroom, and Peter, James and Gus woke with the slamming of the door. Everyone began moaning.

"Classes start again!"

"So what, we also have to deal with Snape some more." 

"Oh, we can handle him."

"What's for breakfast?"

"Maybe you can James, but I can't!"

"What's for breakfast?"

"We don't even have Potions first, Pete, don't worry."

"Who's worrying?"

"WHAT'S FOR BREAKFAST?!"

"You--I dunno Gus, go see--are Peter."

Remus rolled his eyes. It was always like this after holidays, and even after weekends. "Has anyone seen my hat?"

Peter paled. "Oh, um…yeah."

"Where is it?" Remus asked.

Peter, still pale, said, "Around?"

At this point, Sirius walked in, as Gus walked out. "What are you looking for Remus?"

"My hat."

Sirius grinned evilly. "Look under Wormy's bed."

James sniggered. "Wormy?"

Remus crawled under Peter's bed. "It is under--OW! Bloody Hell!"

"Remus? What did you do?" Sirius asked worriedly.

Remus emerged from under the bed, holding the fingers of his left hand with his right. "Did you know?" he demanded.

"Did I know what?" Sirius asked, genuinely confused.

"Did you know that there was a _silver_ tray under his bed?" Remus asked angrily.

Sirius paled. "There was? I didn't know, I wouldn't have told you to look under there if I knew, God, I'm sorry Rem!"

Remus scowled at Peter. "Why, may I ask, is there a _silver_ tray under your bed? And why was my hat under your bed?"

James sniggered.

Remus rounded on him. "What the Hell is so funny James?"

"Well, it's not, really. But I was just thinking--a were-Remus trap!"

Remus bit his lip to keep from smiling. "James!"

Peter blushed.

"It wasn't, was it?" James asked him.

"NO! I just…um…a couple days ago, before you got back, I was running around as a rat, and I ran into your hat, and…" he picked up the hat and held it up by the tip. A handful of little black pellet-like things fell out.

"EW!" Remus, Sirius and James yelled.

"Rat droppings!" Sirius added.

"Um…no offense…but I am NOT wearing that hat ever again," Remus said. "But what about the tray?"

Peter blushed again. "To keep you from finding it?"

"Hey, we're going to be late," James said.

"Fuck!" Sirius said loudly, and he, James and Peter dressed hurriedly.

They slid to their places at the Gryffindor table with ten minutes to eat.

Remus set his Transfiguration book on the table while he looked for his homework.

James flipped it open. "'This book belongs to Remus J. Lupin. Damn, I was hoping you would have printed your middle name."

"In a school book? No way," Remus said.

Lily looked over. "What _does_ the J stand for?"

"Not telling. You guys can all have one guess though. One person in each class," Remus said, grinning.

Sirius smirked. "Let's see…five guesses. Someone's bound to guess it."

Remus just smiled and shook his head.

~*~

During Transfiguration, the first class, Annie guessed. "James," she whispered to Remus while saying her spell. As a result, James turned into an elephant, instead of her chair turning into a pig.

Everyone laughed, and Remus shook his head.

~*~

They had Herbology next, and Peter guessed. "Joshua."

Remus made a disgusted face. "No! That's the worst name you could put with Remus."

~*~

At lunch, Lily guessed Jonathan. 

"Jonathan. Also doesn't go with Remus," Remus said, grimacing.

"Well, it's better than Joshua," Lily countered.

~*~

During Potions, James guessed. "Jacob!"

Remus laughed out loud, causing Carson to take thirty points from Gryffindor and flash his silver ring.

"That fucking bastard of a Slytherin whore teacher," Sirius muttered angrily.

Snape smirked. "I wouldn't call the teacher names Black."

"I wouldn't draw pornographic pictures Snape. We still have those, you know. For blackmail."

Snape paled. He had written his name all over them, and they had his mark in other ways too. 

Sirius smirked back.

~*~

During Charms, Sirius thought. _Hmm, something that goes with Remus. I wonder if it's something that sounds good, or goes with the name in terms of what Remus was named after. Well, he was named after one of the founders of Rome, as his family has origins in Rome…maybe Julius, like in Julius Ceasar! No, too easy. Well, I can think of other Roman _sounding_ names…don't know if they're Roman though…_

~*~

Defense Against the Dark Arts was the last class. "Speak now or forever hold your peace Sirius," Remus said quietly.

Sirius quickly racked his brain. _Hmm…which name do I use? Ah ha! I've got it!_ Sirius grinned evilly.

"What wacky name do you have Sirius?" Remus asked.

"Nothing much…Remus Janus Lupin," Sirius said casually.

Remus' jaw dropped. "How--how--how did you guess?"

James blinked in surprise. "That's what it is?"

Remus nodded mutely.

"It went with Remus," Sirius replied simply as the bell rang. 

As everyone walked out of the room, Remus sighed. "All right, laugh at me. I know you want to."

Everyone laughed so hard Sirius was sure someone would crack a rib. 

"Okay, okay," Remus muttered, blushing.

Sirius put his arm around Remus' shoulder. "Hey, we won't tell anyone. That's what friends are for, right?"

Remus grinned. "Right. By the way Peter…you owe me a new hat."

Peter blushed.

~*~

Later that night, when everyone was asleep, Sirius woke up and broke into a fit of laughter.

James and Peter groaned.

"Now what?" Remus asked.

"Are you going to wake us up every night?" Gus demanded.

"N-no!" Sirius got out through his laughter.

"Good. I'm going to sleep," Gus said. "By the way, what's so funny?"

Sirius snorted. "Ask Remus!"

Remus blushed, though no one could see. "Remus is asleep!" he yelled. "Stupid middle name," he muttered to himself.


	5. Of Black Envelopes

Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling, Arius is from a video game my bro was playing called _Devil May Cry 2_, and unfamiliar and previously mentioned ones are mine. BTW, Arius disappears after this chapter, he's irrelevant to the plot except as an evil Uncle.

A/N: Hello all! Well, despite the cheerful ending to the last chapter, this chapter is much worse. Some more angst-y stuff, including an owl, a black envelope and…our Marauders.

Dedication: To Martina McBride's song "Concrete Angel". If you ever get a chance, I highly recommend you to listen to it. Or at least find the lyrics. Just so you understand the dedication, I'll give you a brief summary of it: A little girl is abused by her parents, eventually she's killed from it, and her tombstone is a concrete angel. It's really sad, but that's another story. This chapter is dedicated to the song because this morning (03-03-03) I woke up at 4:14 am to hear this song. It reminded me of something that will happen in the plot later (Will Siri die? Maybe, maybe not.) and so for an _hour_ afterwards, this scene unfolded in my head. It was rather like watching a narrated movie. Then I got back to sleep finally, afraid that I'd forget the scene, but nope, I get to type it and make you bawl from it. Okay, go read now!

The next day was nothing out of the ordinary. The Marauders & Co ate breakfast at the usual time, went to lessons, played a quick prank, ate lunch, went to lessons, did or grumbled over homework, ate dinner, did homework, talked about pranks and went to bed.

If only they had known.

If only they had known that would be the last ordinary day they would have in a long time.

If only they had enjoyed it more.

But they didn't.

They day started off normally. The Marauders and Gus woke, exchanged playful banter, and went down to breakfast. Then the mail arrived.

"What's that?" James asked, pointing to an owl.

Gus went pale. "It's a black envelope."

Three quarters of the Hall waited with baited breath. There hadn't been a black envelope since last year, and now… When it was apparent that the owl was headed for the Gryffindor table, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff sighed in relief, but the Gryffindors were more nervous.

A black envelope was always from the Ministry, to inform someone that a person in their immediate family had been killed in a Death Eater attack. Sirius was afraid, not for himself, but for his friends. He truly didn't care if his parents were dead.

The owl swooped across the table, closer to the Marauders. _Not us_, Sirius prayed, _Please, not us._

The deities weren't listening. The owl dropped the ominous black envelope in front of…Remus. He opened it with shaking hands, read it, and burst into tears. Then he ran out of the Hall.

James and Sirius exchanged a glance. They both reached for the letter, but James let Sirius pick it up. "'Dear Mr. Lupin, 

We regret to say that your parents have been the object of attacks by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. We are sorry for your loss.

Ministry of Magic'"

Another owl landed by Remus' plate. James picked up the letter and said, "Come on Sirius, let's go find him."

After they had left the Hall, James asked, "Is your sense of smell good?"

Sirius nodded wordlessly. "This way," he said, leading the way to the boys toilets.

The two boys walked in and heard the sound of someone throwing up and sobbing. After a few minutes, the toilet flushed and Remus stepped out shakily. He slid down to the floor by the sinks and sobbed into his arms. 

Sirius and James exchanged another look and instantly crouched down beside Remus. They both patted his shoulders, unsure of what to do or say.

Finally James broke the silence. "I'm really sorry Remus."

"Me too," Sirius added.

Remus nodded through his sobs.

Sirius then said, "You got another letter. It looks important."

"R-read i-it a-aloud," Remus sobbed.

James opened the letter and read, "'Dear Remus, 

Your parents' funeral will be next Saturday. On Sunday, their Will will be read. Since you are not of age, you will stay at Hogwarts until the summer except to attend the funeral and hear the Will be read. At this time, you will stay with me. When summer comes, you will be on your own. 

Sincerely, Uncle Ar--' I can't pronounce that name."

"'Arius,'" Sirius said.

Remus shuddered, and continued to sob.

Suddenly the bathroom door opened. Dumbledore walked in. "Remus, I am truly sorry about your parents. Did you get a letter from your Uncle Arius?"

Remus, still sobbing, nodded.

"Good. Remus, you are of course excused from classes, as are you Mr.…Black." Dumbledore took Sirius aside and said quietly, "Try to prevent him from sinking into depression."

Sirius nodded,

Dumbledore left, after briefly touching Remus' shoulder. James followed, so he wouldn't be late for class.

__

Oh God, what am I supposed to say? Sirius thought. He finally decided on nothing that wasn't absolutely necessary. "Come on Remie, let's go up to the dormitory," he said. He felt like kicking himself. _I'm being so insensitive! But I just don't know what to say!_

Remus nodded and got up and followed Sirius to the Tower. 

"Why aren't you in class?" the Fat Lady inquired.

"Bugger off!" Sirius said angrily. 

"That's not the password, Mr. Black," she said.

"Bugger off!" Sirius repeated, but did then give the correct password. 

He and Remus went up to the dormitory, where Remus flung himself onto his bed and sobbed into his pillow for nearly an hour, Sirius rubbing his shoulder the whole time.

When Remus had run out of tears and was just sniffling occasionally, his face still buried in his pillow, Sirius spoke.

"I know it must be hard," he said. "I really am sorry Remie. I know how much you loved them."

Remus sat up and then spoke, his voice hoarse from crying. "It is hard Sirius. It's strange, you know? One day they're there, the next they aren't." He was silent for a minute, then continued, "You never really expect people to die, until it happens. You think loved ones will live forever, when you're younger at least. I never thought--" his voice broke, then he continued, "I never thought Voldemort would kill my parents. There wasn't really a reason. They weren't powerful, they weren't special, or anything. I guess Voldemort just felt like it. Most of his attacks are for no reason whatsoever."

Sirius sighed and embraced his friend. "I--I guess that's just how it goes sometimes. I wish I knew what to say to help you Remie, but I don't."

"That's all right Siri. You're helping just by being here," Remus said, pain in every part of his voice as he lay back down.

Sirius resumed rubbing Remus' shoulder. After awhile, Remus fell asleep.

~*~

When it was nearly dinnertime, Remus woke. "What time is it?" he asked Sirius, who was still sitting beside him.

"Almost time for dinner," Sirius replied. "Do you feel like eating?"

Remus shook his head. "Not really. I know I should, but…the thought of food makes me want to gag."

Sirius sighed. "That's understandable."

At that moment, Gus and Peter walked into the dormitory. When they saw Remus was awake, the immediately said they were sorry to hear about his parents.

Remus nodded. "Thanks," he said quietly.

"Sirius, are you coming to dinner? You haven't eaten all day," Peter asked.

Sirius fixed Peter with such a fierce glare, the saying 'if looks could kill' seemed to be true. Peter squeaked, rather like his Animagi counterpart and scurried out of the room. Gus, noticing Sirius' look, hightailed it out of there too.

"Sirius, you haven't eaten all day?" Remus asked, concerned. "You didn't have to stay with me."

"Yes, I did Remus. I--I've seen what happens sometimes, after someone loses someone," Sirius said, shuddering.

Remus frowned but didn't press the matter, mostly because he was too caught up in grief.

****************************************************************

The week went by slowly. Remus rarely spoke, rarely ate, rarely slept, rarely did anything at all. Saturday came as a relief to the Marauders & Co, mainly because Remus would be able to get his grief out, and hopefully return back to normal. 

****************************************************************

On Monday Remus returned, looking better than he had when he'd left. He went to classes, ate all his meals, and talked to anyone who spoke to him. To many, it looked as if he was over his parents' deaths.

The Marauders knew better. They heard him crying in his sleep sometimes, saw the vacant look his eyes occasionally got. But they also knew he was coping. 

****************************************************************

In the beginning of February, Remus mentioned what had been in his parents' Will.

"I thought it odd really, that they had a Will, but my Uncle Arius explained that all adults in the wizarding world had written one up because of the Dark times. My parents left the house and anything in it and half of their Gringotts account to me. The rest went to my Uncle Arius, and some other uncle I've never heard of," Remus told them.

James looked thoughtful. "My Mum mentioned that I think."

"What, Remus' uncle he's never heard of?" Peter asked. He really was that dumb.

Sirius rolled his eyes, exasperated. "No, you prat, the thing about all the adults in the wizarding world making up a Will…right?"  


James nodded. "Yeah, that."

Suddenly in the middle of their discussion, Annie and Lily burst into their dormitory. Lily was crying, but Annie was sobbing, hard.

"Annie? What's the matter?" James asked, jumping to his feet and running to his girlfriend, though Sirius could've sworn he was looking at Lily when he said it.

"I--I have terrible news!" Annie burst out.

The others looked at her, gaping.

A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger!! And the short chapter, but the next chapter will be up reasonably soon. In a week, or two.

jeswin: Yes, a sequel. I'm glad you like the friendship, I was thinking it's kinda slashy, but guess not. Will he tell a teacher? Maybe. Is he free? After summer, if he isn't dead, he will be. No Lyra rescuing, and you'll have to see about her staying corrupted. Sirius is the heir of Gryffindor, yes, contrary to everyone saying James and the Potters are. And Crow (Corvus) isn't a Slytherin, he was a Gryffindor, Sirius was just insulting him. 

Ciria: Thanks!


	6. Of News and Minor Pain

Disclaimer: J.K.'s

A/N: Here is my next chapter! The cliffhanger will be solved! Okay, I kinda exaggerated in my last A/N. Remus' Uncle Arius isn't evil. Well, he is, but that's another story that has nothing to do with this. If you've ever played Devil May Cry 2 you'll know what I'm on about. And my new names for Ursa and Corvus are Bear and Crow, because those are what the constellations they get their names from are. Lyra is NOT called Lyre, she's just corrupted. Sorry for the delay but, see, I'm a sadist, and I like seeing you suffer from cliffhangers. 

jeswin: Well, yes I am. Occasionally. Yes, possibly killing Sirius. And the evil uncle thing is explained above. Hmm, you are right about the romance factor. Tell you what, how about I write a whole chapter just for you, with some Lily/Sirius, and even some last minute Annie/James. Lily is definitely staying with Sirius, for time being anyway. Let me know about the special romance chapter, okay? I totally want to please my readers! Besides, I like writing romance.

Ciria: The only people who know about Sirius' parents are the Marauders & Co. No, Crow and Bear were not death eaters. Crow was the Heir of Gryffindor, he's not going to be evil. Truth is, Corvus just drinks too much and has too violent a temper. Ursa is a little afraid of Corvus I think, and…I dunno, just goes along with it. (Scary, when I don't know what my characters are thinking. Well, I do, but not in the greatest detail.)

GoldenRose: Thank you, glad you like the friendship. Truth be told, I like the relationship, but I'm afraid it seems like slash to some. Apparently not!

Annie sobbed out, "I…I…I'm moving!"

"Well, that's not so bad," Peter reasoned.

"Yes, it is!" Annie yelled.

Sirius frowned. _She's moving. Big deal. Many things are worse. Remus' parents dying for example. My…situation, for another example._ "Why is it so bad?" he asked.

Annie sniffled. "Because, I'm moving to--to…I'm moving back to Texas! I won't be going to Hogwarts anymore!"

Lily wiped at her tears. "Isn't it awful?"

Remus' voice was cold. "No, it's not. Not in these times. In fact, it's wonderful. It's safer in America. Here, many worse things can happen."

"You unfeeling son of a bitch!" Annie yelled angrily.

"I'm not unfeeling Andromeda Starr, you are!" Remus retorted. "You scared us all, because in these Dark times, moving isn't so bad. People _dying_ is bad! _Abuse_ is bad! Moving is not fucking bad!"

James scowled. "Remus, Annie didn't mean to make you feel your parents are unimportant."

"Maybe not James, but it felt like it. And you'd always stick up for your _girlfriend_!" This came from Sirius.

"You bastard!" James yelled. "She is my girlfriend! Just like Lily is yours! Wouldn't you do the same thing I'm doing?"

Sirius shook with fury. "No James, I wouldn't. Not in this situation. I'd yell at Lily, just like Remus did to Annie, if she came in sobbing, 'Oh I'm moving, boo hoo!'"

Annie slapped Sirius across the face, before kicking him in the groin.

Sirius dropped to his knees and doubled up. "Ouch…you…bitch!"

"That was totally uncalled for Andromeda!" Remus yelled.

"Well, you didn't have to be so unfeeling!" Annie shot back.

"And Sirius didn't have to call her a bitch!" Lily added.

Sirius gasped from the floor, "Lily…she…didn't have to…kick me…in the groin. Do you…have any idea…how much that hurts?"

James glared. "You deserved it!"

"Well, I admit he could have been nicer, but you could have damaged him permanently!" Remus yelled. "I'm _glad_ you're moving if you act like this!"

Unseen by anyone, Peter slipped out of the room.

Sirius got shakily to his feet, clenching his teeth from the pain. He could bear it, worse had been done, but…_OUCH_.

Annie glared, then said slowly and purposely, "Well, it's no big deal that Remus' parents died. They're just two of hundreds. And your parents abuse you Sirius? So what? I'm sure it's nothing worse than what I've just done."

Remus' eyes filled with tears. "_Bitch_!" he yelled, and ran out of the room.

"Ooh, the crybaby. Are you going to cwy, Siwius?"

Sirius shook with rage. "Andromeda Starr, don't you _dare_ make…my life sound easy. I'd love to see you try it. In fact, I'd love to…see you go through _half_ of what I've gone through and …live. You bitch!" And he stormed away too, to find Remus.

Lily hesitated, then said, "I have to agree with Sirius and Remus on this one Annie. You were a little harsh."

"Fine, side with you goddamned boyfriend. That's like you Lily, you…you…mudblood!" Annie said angrily.

Lily turned red with fury, before going to her own dormitory.

James scowled and shook his head. "You really messed up Annie."

"Go ahead, side with your best friends and Lily, not your girlfriend! See if I care!" And Annie slapped James across the face too. He left the room too.

Annie collapsed on the floor, sobbing. 

Meanwhile, Sirius had run through the halls. He found Remus easily, and slid inside the room.

Sirius walked over to Remus, who was crying on the floor, but the tears were more angry than sad. 

"If she's moving, why did she say all that, and do all that?" Remus asked angrily.

Sirius sighed. "I don't know."

"How dare she? How dare she nearly make fun of my parents death, and you?" Remus asked. "By the way, are you all right?"

Sirius nodded. "I've been through worse."

"But why?" Remus asked again.

"I think I know why," came a new voice. James.

Sirius and Remus both spun around. "Why?!" they half-yelled in unison.

"And don't you dare say, 'Because she's moving,' James. Just because you're on her side--" Sirius began hotly, but James interrupted.

"Wait, wait! I'm not on her side, she had no right to do all that, but I think I know why. It's because she's moving to America--wait, I'm not finished--and she wants us all to hate her so that she won't miss us as much. That's why when Remus was sort of angry, she took it further," James said.

Lily's voice came from the doorway. "Brilliant theory James! Do you think so?"

James nodded. "Yes, I do."

Peter slipped into the room. "You do what?"

James explained his theory again. As Peter was nodding, they heard a voice from the door.

"That's right."

"Annie!" James said.

"Yes, I did want you all to hate me. Because I'm moving in a week, and I didn't want it to be sad," Annie said.

Remus put his arm around Annie. "Hey, Annie, we're not going to stop being friends, we can all write you know."

"Thanks Remus, you're right," Annie said. "But James…I don't think we can go on dating across the Atlantic."

James nodded, eyes downcast. "Yeah, I know."

Annie walked over to James and kissed him. "It's not you James," she reassured him. "And if there was any way it could work--"  


"I know," James said quietly. "I know."

Sirius could see James was upset about Annie breaking up with him, even if he wouldn't admit it. He resolved to talk to James later. _After all, I'm supposed to be his best friend. And I haven't been acting like it lately. I mean, I've been acting like Remus is my sole friend. And I…I couldn't live without James. I--I don't know what I would do without him._

~*~

That night, when everyone was asleep, Sirius sat at the foot of James' bed. "James…wake up!" he hissed.

James jerked awake. "Sirius? Wrong bed, Remus is next to me," James snapped.

"James, look, I'm sorry I haven't been acting much like your best friend lately. But James, I can tell you're upset about Annie, even though you act like you don't," Sirius said.

"Ah, guilt trip," James said knowingly and sarcastically.

Sirius scowled. "It is _not_ a damn guilt trip James! If you were upset about me spending so much time with Remus, you should have said something."

"No, it's not that you were spending time with Remus, it was you abandoned me, and Peter and Annie, and Lily too! You just _left_ us Sirius, because Remus needed you more." James' tone softened a little. "And I understand, sort of. I do, really. But right now, I'm just…I am upset Sirius. I love Annie, I really do. But she's right, we can't continue this over the Atlantic."

"You should tell Annie that James. That you love her," Sirius said softly. He was thinking about his own girlfriend. _James is right. I do need to spend more time with Lily. With him and Peter too, to be honest._

James smiled. "You're right. And you should too. Tell that to Lily I mean. Annie told me--never mind, I'm not supposed to tell you."

"James, please!" Sirius begged.

"Well…all right. Annie told me that Lily told her she thinks you don't really love her, and that you never did, because you haven't shown it for awhile, or even told her that," James whispered.

Sirius' eyes widened. "But I do James, I do! Lily was…she _is_ one of the rays of comfort that reach me through the mass of pain and misery in the holidays." Then he blushed, because he thought he'd said too much.

"Sirius, you should tell Dumbledore about that," James said gently.

"NO!" 

"All right. All right. But do talk to Lily."

Sirius nodded. "And you talk to Annie."

"I will. I will."


	7. Of Romantic Endings

Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling, 'cept for previously mentioned ones. The line 'Annie was leaning against the wall. James was kissing her. He had his hand up her shirt' came from the book, 'The Secret of Sarah Revere' by…I don't remember.

A/N: Ah, welcome friends, to the next installment of Safe At Home. How many people liked the moving factor? ::raises hand:: I did! I'll tell you a little secret: {Annie was made to get rid of} ::giggles:: I knew, before I even wrote that first word, that Annie would go bye-bye. I made her a Texan for a reason, and that reason was to send her back. You'll see why later. **Bold **is still dreams.

Dedication: Okay folks, it's time to make my dedication. This chapter is for **_JESWIN!_** **_JESWIN_** said that there wasn't much romance. Well, this is what this is! A romance chapter! And I can not write romance very well. Sorry. BTW, sorry this took so long. Stupid writer's block.

Sirius lay awake, thinking of what James had said. He knew he had to talk to Lily, but what would he say? _Lily, I love you? Lily, you mean the world to me? Lily, you were a light in the dark? _Sirius sighed and continued to think. After a few minutes, he accidentally dropped off. 

****

"I love you. You mean the world to me. Through all the darkness, you were a light. We all have our demons, but you chased mine away. I love you so much, when we're apart, I feel like part of me is missing. I can never express my love to you in merely words. Can I kiss you?" The boy with black hair kissed a redhead. She giggled and said, "Oh Siri…I love you." He smiled tenderly at her. "Lily…"

Sirius woke suddenly. _I must thank my subconscious some day. I know what to tell Lily!_ He checked the clock and saw that it was a suitable time to wake up. _Well, that's one thing that's bloody going well._

Sirius leaped out of bed. He quickly got dressed, managing to wake the others in the process. "Sirius!" groaned Gus, "I was hoping to _sleep in_ today."

"Oh, shut up," Sirius said. "James, remember what we agreed to do?"

James groaned, but nodded. He rolled out of bed and began getting dressed. Sirius followed suit. When the two boys were dressed, they ran out of the dormitory and knocked on the door of the girl's dormitory.

A wide-awake Lily opened the door. "Siri, James! What do you want?"

"We want you and Annie," Sirius replied.

Lily frowned, but yelled, "Annie, James wants you!"

Annie, also wide awake, flounced over. "James, I already said we can't--"

"I know, but I have to talk to you," James said.

"And I have to talk to you, Flower," Sirius added. "Astronomy Tower?"

Lily looked apprehensive. "Well…okay."

Sirius took Lily's hand and led her to the Astronomy Tower. "Sit down," he said, pointing to the floor.

Lily sat. Sirius sat beside her. Sirius took a deep breath. "Lily, I love you. You mean the world to me. Through all the darkness, you were a light. We all have our demons, but you chased mine away. I love you so much, when we're apart, I feel like part of me is missing. I can never express my love to you in merely words. Can I kiss you?"

Lily gaped at Sirius. "What…why…of course you can."

Sirius leaned in and their lips met in a sweet kiss. The kiss soon turned into a full out snog fest. They broke apart only when they needed to breathe.

"Sirius!" Lily gasped, "What is this all about?!"

"Lily, I meant what I said. I love you, and when James and Annie had to break up because of Annie's moving, it made me realize I don't know what I'd do if I lost you. I've kind of ignored you lately, and I'm sorry," Sirius said.

Lily looked speechless. After a moment, she said, "Oh, Siri…I…I love you too. I always will, even if you ignore me. But I was starting to think you didn't care about me."

Sirius kissed her gently. "I do, Flower, more than you probably realize."

The couple sat in the Astronomy Tower for a long time, occasionally kissing or snogging, before they left. They walked back down to the main castle, and were startled to see how much time had passed. It was nearly lunchtime!

"Bloody Hell!" Sirius gasped. "How could that much time pass?"

Lily smiled at her boyfriend. "Time flies when you're having fun."

Sirius gave her a sly smile. "Oh, that wasn't fun…this is." Then Sirius kissed Lily in the middle of the hallway.

"Siri!" Lily squealed, "Stop it! Kisses are for private moments! Not in the middle of the hallway!"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Come on, Flower. Maybe we should…um…walk around until lunchtime."

Lily nodded, so the couple walked in the direction of the library, holding hands. Sirius suddenly burst out laughing. "Looks like James and Annie don't share your kissing beliefs!" Lily looked where Sirius was pointing and starting giggling.

Annie was leaning against the wall. James was kissing her.

He had his hand up her shirt.

Sirius grinned at Lily. She whispered, "Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"

"What do you think I'm thinking that you think I'm thinking?" Sirius replied.

"I think you're thinking what I think you're thinking and I think you're thinking about yelling out 'Hi James!' or something like that," Lily said.

Sirius grinned and held up one finger, then two, then three. "HI JAMES, HI ANNIE!" 

They both jumped. 

"Sirius Orion Black!" James yelled.

"Lillian Angie Anne-Marie Evans!" Annie yelled at the same time.

Sirius sniggered. "Lillian _Angie Anne-Marie _Evans? You said your middle name was just Marie!"

Lily blushed. "Andromeda Cassiopeia Starr, I'm going to kill you!"

Annie shrugged. "Not if you're already dead."

"That's right," James added, "We have to kill you two for interrupting us."

James and Annie exchanged a look, nodded, leapt on Sirius and Lily, and started tickling them. "Apologize!" James demanded.

"I'm--sorry!" Lily shrieked, laughing. 

James and Annie stopped tickling her, but continued tickling Sirius. 

"St-stop!" Sirius laughed.

"Not until you apologize," Annie replied.

Sirius laughed madly as he shook his head. "Never!" James and Annie kept tickling him, joined by Lily. "Come--on, I-I mean--it!"

"Apologize then!" James yelled.

Sirius started gasping for breath. "All--right, I'm--sorry!"

They stopped, and Sirius began panting like his Animagus counterpart. "I see…you talked…to Annie."

"I see you have a reason for being a dog," James replied.

Sirius grinned, still panting. "So, do you two realize it's nearly lunchtime?"

"Nearly? It _is_ lunchtime now, Siri," Lily said.

Sirius gasped, a look of pretend horror on his face. "Oh no! The great Padfoot the Great is late for lunch!"

Everyone laughed, and James then said, "Sirius and Lillian, would you care to join my lovely date Andromeda and I on a double date to the Great Hall?"

"Why yes, Sir James, we would love to," Lily replied. So, holding hands, the two couples went to the Great Hall. 

Sirius sat down next to Remus, with Lily on his other side. James sat across from Remus with Annie across from Sirius. 

"Hey Remus, what have you been up to?" Sirius asked.

Remus shrugged. "Not much."

"Did you have a wonderful time away from James and me?"

"Hmmm," Remus replied.

Sirius knew something was wrong. "Remie? What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing, Sirius. I was just, you know…thinking about my Mum and Dad…"

Sirius nodded. "Oh."

"But I'm going to stop thinking about that. So, Lily, Sirius, James, Annie, did you have fun?"

Lily blushed, Sirius nodded, but James looked sad.

"James?" Sirius asked.

James sighed. "Well, Annie will be moving soon, and I…I was just…thinking about how much I'll miss…" A tear slipped from James' eye. "Now I'm crying over it. Great."

"Hey, crying is okay," Sirius said. "But we can all still be friends, though, right?"

"Yeah, I guess. But I…I'll miss you as a girlfriend though Annie," James said sniffling, partly to Sirius, partly to Sirius.

A new, very unwelcome voice said, "Hey Potter, picked up a few things from the mon--I mean, _Lupin_?"

This caused a bit of an uproar.

Sirius yelled, "SHUT UP, SNAPE!"

"Bastard!" Annie added.

James glared and said, "Go back to your little bunch of Death Eaters."

And Remus, his fists clenched, stood up and said, in a would-be-calm tone, "Go. To. HELL!"

"Well, I'm impressed. Lupin didn't cry this time."

Sirius snapped. He stood up and punched Snape in the nose, breaking it again. "Shut up about us Snape! NOW!"

Snape glared at him. "I will say what I want, Black! And you can't stop me!"

"No, but all of us together could certainly do some harm to your ugly face. And maybe some other places too," James added.

Snape sneered. "Oh yeah? What harm could a couple of girls, some obnoxious boys and a monster do?"

In one movement, Remus grabbed the front of Snape's robes and slammed him against the wall. "I would advise you to shut the fuck up _now_!" he growled.

Snape quaked under Remus' fierce stare.

"Lupin! What is the meaning of this?" Carson asked, dashing over.

"Snape came over and started insulting us, sir," Remus answered.

Carson sneered. "And that gives reason to attack him? I don't think so, Lupin!"

Sirius wasn't going to let Remus take all the blame. "Um, I broke his nose, sir."

"And I verbally assaulted him," James confessed.

"I did too," Annie added.

"You should all be ex_pelled_," Carson hissed.

Professor McGonagall came over. "What is the problem here, Professor Carson?"

"Lupin and Black physically assaulted Snape, Potter and Starr verbally assaulted him, Minerva," Carson said.

"Explain," McGonagall said.

"Well, Professor, James was a little...er…upset, and Snape came over and said something like, 'Potter learned a few things from the monster, I mean Lupin', because he's came by when I was um, crying, once, and so, um, Sirius, Annie, James and I basically told him to go away, and insulted him, he said 'I'm surprised Lupin didn't cry this time'. Sirius then…erm, punched Snape in the nose and told him to shut up, Snape said something like, 'What harm could a couple of girls, some obnoxious boys and a monster do' and then I um…grabbed Snape's robes and um, slammed him against the wall. That was when Professor Carson came over," Remus explained. Now that Sirius heard someone saying it aloud, it seemed a childish thing to have done. 

"Is this true Mr. Snape?" McGonagall asked.

Snape nodded, slightly sullen, because he had to admit to the insults.

"All right, ten points from Slytherin, twenty from Gryffindor, detention for three days for Black and Lupin, and detention for one night for Snape because I believe Dumbledore said something about not telling about something," McGonagall said.

They all nodded, and the professors and Snape left them.

"Well, it could have been worse," James said.

Sirius sort of half-smiled. "Yeah."

**********************************************************

The week went by. Remus and Sirius served their detentions, and James and Annie snogged every day. Then on Friday, Annie packed her trunk. Saturday came all too soon.

"I'm really going to miss you guys," Annie said, crying.

"We'll miss you too," Remus said. The others nodded.

Annie smiled through her tears. "I know."

Lily sighed. "You're my best friend. Always will be."

Annie sniffled. "You're mine Lily."

Professor McGonagall entered the common room. "Andromeda, your parents are here."

Annie burst into a fresh wave of tears. "Bye guys."

"Bye Annie," everyone murmured.

Lily hugged her friend, then Remus did, Peter, Sirius, and finally James. 

"I love you," James whispered in her ear.

Annie sniffled. "Me too." she whispered back. "Bye…" she said as she left the common room.

None of them ever saw her again.

****

Ciria: Yes, I don't much like Annie either. Peter just left, cause he didn't really want to get involved. Did she do what on purpose? I got Sirius' thought of James from…imagination? I dunno. Yes, Sirius does love Lily deeply. 

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geordie lass 4eva: Thanks!

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jeswin: Yup, this is for you. Yes, interaction between others is good. Glad Annie didn't turn out to be a noxious bi*? Out of character? No, it's rather in character. I'm surprised anyone liked Annie, I hate her to be frank. Hmm, well, I'm sure you CAN hear me. You just don't want to J 

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GoldenRose: Thanks!

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Tiger Lily: Thanks!


	8. Of Potions and Beaters

YOU MAY NOTICE CHRONICLES IS ON HOLD. THIS ISN'T, THIS I CAN WRITE, DESPITE DUMB OotP.

Disclaimer: J.K.'s

A/N: I AM SO SORRY ABOUT THE DELAY!! I will write my hand off this week, finishing this story with one long chapter (hopefully) and then writing the sequel. Before Saturday. 

Puh, look at the pathetic A/N. ::mockingly:: I'm so sorry about the delay. I'll finish before Saturday. Well, it's Sunday today and I am…annoyed. Sad. And all that. Let's see…this is now a 'written before' fic. And I'm continuing the way I want, ignoring J.K. REMUS IS NOT A PREFECT IN MY WORLD! JAMES IS! AND THEY ARE NOT THE ARROGANT, HORRIBLE BASTARDS J.K. MADE THEM!

__

Italics are flashback.

For a while, James moped. Nothing anyone said or did made him feel any better. But it was Sirius who finally made a difference on February 17. 

"Look Prongs, we all know you miss her and all that, but really. You do have a damn life! Get over the girl!"

James glared at Sirius, then laughed. "I suppose you're right. I really haven't been much fun lately have I?"

"Well," Remus said, trying to have a little more tact than Sirius, "You had to er--take time to get over it."

"I'm guessing that's your polite way of saying 'Get a life!'" James said.

Remus grinned. "You could say that."

"Well, I'm all for it. It was depressing, being depressed."

Sirius and Remus laughed. "Well, I can help with that," Remus said. "Remember at the beginning of the year I said we should Switch Slytherin Quidditch robes? We haven't done it yet."

James grinned. "Well the next match--Slytherin versus Gryffindor--is…oh my God, it's in two weeks and we need a new Beater! Okay, I'll put up signs in the common room, but first I should tell McGonagall and ask if we can use the field…we'll just use it during practice time, so that's not a problem. Maybe you should try out Remus, you're pretty good, and hmm, what else. It should be someone with experience, right? Any other suggestions?" 

Sirius whooped and punched the air. "Jamie is back!"

Remus grinned, but rolled his eyes at Sirius. "I guess so. And I don't know James…"

"Oh, come on. You're a great Beater. I've seen you," James replied.

"Maybe…" Remus said reluctantly.

The group left the dormitory and went into the common room. James immediately sat down and began writing furiously. He also Summoned several things, including his Quidditch diagram.

"We had better leave him alone," Sirius said to Remus. "He's in Quidditch mode."

Remus nodded. "You're right. 

Sirius hesitated for a second, then said, "So, _are_ you going to try for it?"

Remus sighed. "If you really think I'm good…"

"You are, Remie. You're actually better than me."

Remus snorted. "Come on Sirius, you're feared by all the Quidditch teams. Everyone is afraid you'll kill them with a Bludger."

"No Remus, you are good. You've practiced with us, James, Annie, Gus and me. You can fly faster and better, even though your broom is worse--no offense--and you can hit the Bludgers much harder than me," Sirius said.

Remus shook his head. "You must've been having an off day," he insisted.

"I wouldn't lie to you Remus," Sirius protested.

"You have," Remus hissed.

"What--?"

"Sixth year, remember," Remus snapped.

Sirius felt as if he had been slapped. "Remus, that was the stupidest thing I've ever done--I've told you, I'm sorry!"

Remus gave him a look worthy of Snape. "But did you mean it?"

"Of course!" Sirius exclaimed. 

"I doubt it," Remus hissed.

Sirius felt tears in his eyes. "Remus, I did! I thought everything was okay between us!"

Remus quite suddenly threw up. He then passed out.

"James!" Sirius yelled.

James looked up, annoyed. "Wha--?" The question died on his lips, and he ran over to them.

"What happened?" he asked, kneeling beside Remus, carefully avoiding the puddle of vomit.

"We were talking, then suddenly Remus turned it into an argument. So we were arguing, and then he suddenly threw up and passed out," Sirius explained.

James looked puzzled. "We should take him to Madam Pomfrey."

Sirius nodded and began to say the spell to clean up the mess from the floor.

"Wait!" James exclaimed. "Look."

Sirius looked at the mess. "Ew James, what--?" He saw quite suddenly what. Remus' vomit was a rainbow of colors. Strange colors, like magenta and bright blue.

"He must have drunk a potion. Or something," James said. "We should have Madam Pomfrey look at this."

"How are we going to get that to Madam Pomfrey?" Sirius asked.

James thought a second, then said, "We have her come up here. I'll be right back." James left through the portrait hole.

After a few minutes had passed, Remus stirred. "Sirius?" he said weakly.

"Yes, it's me," Sirius replied.

"I'm sorry. So very sorry," Remus murmured.

Sirius frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Earlier. Snape, a potion, I…" he slipped into unconsciousness once again.

Before Sirius could do anything, James and Madam Pomfrey came in.

"What happened Black?" Madam Pomfrey asked briskly.

Sirius explained again, then added the recent bout of wakefulness Remus had gone through. "He woke up, apologized and said 'Snape, a potion, I…'. And we were going to bring him to you somehow when James noticed his vomit was several strange colors."

Madam Pomfrey Summoned a little kit. She opened it and took out a small vial that couldn't hold more than a tablespoon of liquid. She filled it halfway with Remus' vomit, then put a few drops of this potion, a few drops of that potion into it, shook it, and set it aside. She then took out a second vial, and punctured Remus' finger. She let several drops of blood drip into the vial, until it was half full, put in three drops of some potion, then she seemed to remember something. "I'll need one drop of blood from one of you."

Sirius held out his finger. "Use me."

"What blood type are you dear?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

Sirius shrugged. "Just regular old O positive."

"Perfect," Madam Pomfrey said. She punctured Sirius' finger, who winced slightly, then held the vial of Remus' blood under his finger. One drop of blood fell into it, and it hissed and turned silver. Madam Pomfrey shook it as well and set it aside. She then picked up the first vial. The combination of liquids inside had turned a gross sort of brown color. She put half of this into a third vial, and kept the other half inside. She turned back to the vial of blood, which had turned steely gray. She poured half of this into the third vial along with the other liquid. She shook this and it turned a sickening shade of yellow. James actually gagged upon seeing it. Madam Pomfrey sighed. "There is a potion detectable, though I'm not sure which one. Perhaps Professor Carson--"

"No!" Sirius said.

Madam Pomfrey looked at Sirius questioningly. "Why ever not?"

"Well, Carson--_Professor _Carson--is quite, well, er…prejudiced. I'm not sure he'd want to, and he doesn't even really like Remus anyway," Sirius explained.

"Although I probably shouldn't, I agree Mr. Black. But who else is there?"

James spoke up. "Can I try, Madam Pomfrey?"

"I suppose," she said reluctantly, "But be careful with that!"

James nodded, closed his eyes, passed his wand over the vial and murmured a spell. He did several more spells this way. 

Sirius sighed and turned away. He looked at Remus, right into Remus' open eyes. 

"Sirius?" Remus questioned again, a bit more strongly then before.

"Yes, I'm still here," Sirius replied.

"Snape…in my pumpkin juice…slipped a--"

"Friend-Foe Potion!" James exclaimed in triumph.

Remus nodded slightly. "He really does hate us, you know."

"That's all very well Mr. Lupin, but you need to be taken to the Hospital Wing immediately!" Madam Pomfrey snapped.

Remus sighed. "Don't I spend enough time in there?" he questioned.

"Well, no doubt you are nearly well, seeing as you are able to be sarcastic, but I will not be satisfied until I am sure you are all right," Madam Pomfrey said, but she was now smiling affectionately at Remus. She then conjured a stretcher and began to levitate Remus onto it.

"Wait a minute, I can walk!" Remus protested.

Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips. "Oh, very well."

Remus stood up and immediately wobbled. Sirius and James grabbed his arms to prevent him from falling. He shook them off and started toward the door of the portrait hole. James, Sirius, and Madam Pomfrey followed behind.

"So, what is a Friend-Foe Potion?" Sirius asked. "I've heard of it, I think, but I don't know what it does exactly."

"Well, when a sore subject is brought up between friends, the person who has taken the potion will turn it into an argument. After arguing for a few minutes, the potion will wear off. However, if the person tries to fight the potion, it will result in them passing out and throwing up," James said. 

Sirius fell silent and remained that way until they were at the Hospital Wing. Then he said to James, "Snape has hell to pay."

James nodded. "Pink tutu?"

"Too kind."

"Red bikini?"  


"Too disgusting!"

"Telling the teachers about those pictures of Lily?"

"Too incriminating, and _way_ below the belt."

"Blackmailing with the pictures?"

"What for? There's no need."

James nodded grimly. "Yes there is. Tell him to leave us alone, or we'll tell. We won't, obviously, but we can make him think we will."

Sirius shrugged. "Why not?"

James grinned.

"You seem to be perfectly fine," Madam Pomfrey said to Remus. "You can leave."

Remus walked straight out the door, without even looking at his friends.

"Remus, wait up!" Sirius yelled, running out the door, James following.

"Rem!" James called. The two boys slowed their pace as the drew even with the werewolf.

"Hey, Remie, why didn't you wait?" James asked.

Remus just shook his head. Sirius saw tears in his eyes. Sirius fell back and said quietly to James, "Just follow us, okay?" James nodded, and Sirius stepped back up beside Remus.

"Remie?"

Remus looked sadly at Sirius. "I'm so sorry Sirius. I know you're sorry, it was Snape, and that potion, I couldn't help it. I saw how much I hurt you. I'm so sorry."

"Hey, look, I understand. He's just a slimy git. Don't worry about it. Okay?"

Remus sniffled and nodded. Sirius hugged him. "Thanks Siri."

"No problem."

~*~

In five days, the Quidditch team had the tryouts. "Quite a crowd turned up," James commented.

"Yeah," replied Sirius.

"There's Remus, and Sturgis Podmore, and Wormtail--he hasn't got a chance--and…"

Sirius tuned James out. He was remembering the day he had gotten the position for Beater. It had been under these very same circumstances, when he was in his third year. It had happened just before the Christmas holidays. Sirius had decided to go home for Christmas, and his parents had been so proud…

"Beater, Sirius! Oh, how wonderful!" Ursa gushed.

Sirius grinned. "Yeah, I'm the Beater. One of the Beaters anyway."

"I'm proud of you son," Corvus said.

"We'll have to get you something extra special for Christmas," Ursa said. "Lyra, honey, did you hear that? Sirius is a Beater!"

Lyra, who at the time was five, said, "What's a Beater?"

Sirius pretended to faint. "What's a Beater?" he repeated. "Why, my dearest darling little sister, a Beater is the best da--the best position in Quidditch ever. We get to hit stuff with clubs!"

Corvus chuckled. "Only the Bludgers son, only the Bludgers."

Sirius sighed. That was one of the last good times he had had with his family. He was annoyed with himself when he realized he was on the verge of tears.

Luckily, James called to him at that moment. "Come on Sirius, the first person is up! Get in the air!"

Sirius immediately took flight. 

James yelled loudly, so everyone could hear him, "Okay everyone, the rest of the team is going to be holding an ordinary practice, you'll just join in, except out other Beater, Sirius, isn't going to be doing much. If he spots something that the potential Beater won't be able to get that's life threatening, well, then he'll hit it. Okay then, Peter Pettigrew, you're up first!"

Peter looked nervous and took the Beater's club from Sirius, who handed it to him solemnly. Then he flew away, towards the middle of the pitch. 

James blew his whistle and the Bludgers started zooming around, as did the Snitch. "Oh yeah, I forgot!" James yelled. "Mundungus Fletcher, the Seeker, and I, a Chaser, are on the other team! Aim for us!"

The Bludger zoomed towards Arabella Figg. Peter went after it, but he was flying sort of haphazardly. He wasn't going to make it. Sirius flew over to her, just in case. She wasn't moving, though it was obviously taking all her resolve not to fly away. At the last possible second, Sirius hit the Bludger away, not aiming at anything. 

"What'd you do that for?!" Peter yelled. "I was almost there!"

"Yeah, but by the time you did, Bella's nose would be mush!" Sirius replied.

Peter looked annoyed. He turned away, obviously in a bad mood. He never even saw the second Bludger coming toward him. It hit him full in the face, causing a bad nosebleed, and possibly a break.

"Tough luck!" James yelled. "Hospital Wing! Sturgis Podmore, you're up!"

Sturgis took the club from Peter, flew up into the air, and began looking out for the Bludgers. When one flew past him, obviously heading for Wood, he tore after it. He swung his club back--and dropped it. He dove after it, but while he was concentrating on retrieving the club, the Bludger made for Arabella. Sirius knew Podmore would never retrieve the club quickly enough, so he hit the Bludger away. 

Podmore had recovered the club by now, and was defending himself with it. He hit the Bludger, and the club went flying again. This time, it collided with the back of Sirius' head.

It was only Corvus' constant blows to the head that kept Sirius from passing out. He even managed to catch the club as it fell.

James was livid. "Podmore, would you mind not injuring our Beater?! The game's in less than two weeks and we don't have time to train two new Beaters, we barely have time to train _one_!" Podmore scowled. "You okay?" James added to Sirius. 

"Fine, fine, let's just get on with it!"

A few hours later, Sirius was exhausted. They had played with twenty different people, and none of them had been half as good as Annie had been. Only Remus was left now, and Sirius was glad.

Remus flew up and took the bat from James, who had retrieved it from the teachers' stands, after the previous person had thrown it there in temper. He smiled nervously at Sirius, who flashed him a brief and tired smile.

The Bludgers began to rocket around again. One was headed for Wood, the other for Arabella. Remus flew towards Wood first, and slammed the Bludger towards James, as instructed. A split-second later, he pelted the second one towards James as well. James was forced to do a Sloth Grip Roll to avoid the first Bludger, then immediately roll back upright to avoid the second one mere seconds later. Remus played with a sort of fierce concentration neither Sirius nor James had ever seen him exhibit while doing _anything_ before. When James blew his whistle fifteen minutes later, he quickly conferred with the rest of the team.

"Remus," said Arabella immediately. 

Wood nodded. "Hate to say it Sirius, but he's better than you."

"I know," Sirius said, grinning. "That's what I told him."

"Are we all agreed?" James asked.

Everyone nodded.

"Good. Then I'll announce it--normally we'd wait a week or so, mostly for the anticipation, it's tradition, but we don't have the time." He flew up over everyone and yelled, "We have come to a conclusion. First of all, you all did pretty well, but only one of you can be a Beater. Second of all, we would normally make you wait a week before we tell you this, but we have a game in less than two, so--REMUS LUPIN, WELCOME TO THE TEAM!" All the people who had tried out applauded for Remus, who looked shocked.

James landed and walked over to where Sirius and Remus were standing. "Great job Rem," he said.

"I wasn't--I'm not--wow," Remus replied.

"Remus is in sho-sho-shock," Sirius yawned, attempting to grin but failing miserably because he was so tired.

Remus looked worriedly at Sirius. "Sirius, I'm not sure you should go to sleep before you see Madam Pomfrey, you might have a concussion from Podmore."

Sirius sighed. "Remus, I appreciate your concern, I really do, but I'm fine. I've been hit much harder than that in quick succession without getting a concussion, so you really don't need to worry." He looked bitter as he said it.

"Sirius--" Remus began, but Sirius cut him off.

"If you're going to say anything about my parents Remus, don't," Sirius snapped, immediately regretting it, when he saw Remus' hurt look. "Remus, I'm sorry, I'm just really tired and I want to go to bed. No hard feelings, right?"

Remus' look brightened a bit. "Of course not."

The three boys went to the dormitory, where Sirius fell onto his bed fully dressed and fell asleep instantly.

Sirius woke up two hours later to find that someone had removed his shoes, socks, and jeans and had pulled the blankets over him. He sat up and looked around. Remus was sitting at the end of his bed, reading a book.

He looked up when he heard Sirius' bed springs squeak. "Hey, I was just about to wake you. It's nearly dinner time. Are you still tired?"

"Exhausted," Sirius said. "Even if I could get out of bed, I'd have to go to dinner barefoot and without pants, because I can't be buggered to put my clothes back on."

Remus grinned guiltily. "That was my fault. That you're not wearing any shoes or pants I mean. I thought you'd be more comfortable, so I magicked them off."

"Thanks. I'm hungry though. But I guess I'll just stay here, I really don't think I can or want to get up," Sirius said.

Remus grinned again. "James has it covered. He's gone to the kitchens to get you some food. He figured you would be, and I quote "too lazy" to go to dinner."

"He should try guarding an entire Quidditch team from a bunch of horrible potential Beaters, not to mention taking quite a few Bludgers to various parts of the body and a club to the back of the head," Sirius grumbled. "There were maybe two good people out there, including you."

"I don't whether I should take that as a compliment or not," Remus said jokingly. 

Sirius yawned and said, "Whichever you like, I don't really care. Though it was meant as a compliment."

Before Remus could respond, James came in. "Dinner is served!" He was carrying a tray with three plates on it. "I brought up a plate for Remus and me too, so you wouldn't have to eat alone."

Sirius grinned mischievously. "So, I'm 'too lazy' now am I?"

James shot a mock-glare at Remus, who was looking innocent. "Well, I wasn't going to say anything, but now you mention it…yes."

Sirius stuck his tongue out at James. "I have such wonderful friends," he said sarcastically.

Remus took a plate and handed it to Sirius, took another and handed it to James, finally taking his own. "You know, I really think you do."

Responses:

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Mononoke: I hope so too! And of COURSE I've thought about Harry. James' or not, well, you'll have to see. One word. SEQUEL.

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Jeswin: Yea, you like it! You've got Annie spot on. James needed a girlfriend, Sirius had Lily, thus I made Annie, and that's why she went bye-bye. And this could be AU…well, it is, but ignore that for now. It could be AU, and Sirius' parents DO kill him…EPILOGUE.

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Ciria: James isn't QUITE like the crying on a friend's shoulder. I can see Remus doing it, but not James. James doesn't really seem to care, other than the depression bit. Of COURSE there will be a Harry Potter. Son of James and Lily, though, you'll have to see. SEQUEL.

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lara: Thanks! Yes, it was Lily POTTER. But this COULD be AU…you'll see. SEQUEL.

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o0o-Sir Sirius Black 4eva-o0o: Glad you like the pairing! And you'll have to see. SEQUEL.

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Tiger Lily: Thanks! That part WAS fun to write.

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Vera: Thanks, here you go.

A/N 2: Wow, I'm surprised more people didn't ask about Harry sooner. All inquiries about him will be solved in the part that is in caps in your response. For example, Jeswin wonders if Sirius' parents will kill him, and that will be solved in the epilogue. A bunch of other people wonder about Harry, that will be solved in the sequel.


	9. Of Quidditch

Disclaimer: J.K.'s 

A/N: I just put out a chapter today and I'm already writing the next. Hopefully, it'll be up by Saturday. I had some inspiration, a song actually. Oh, it's _perfect_ for OotP. It's sung by Wynonna, and it's called "What the World Needs." It was written for our world, but it goes with the Harry Potter world…it's just perfect. Pure inspiration. 

It's Saturday now, and I'm afraid the next chapter will be pushed back to Wednesday. I went to a couple flea markets, and my friend wanted me to come over, and I always stay there a couple days…Oh, and I was helping Secret Pleasures with her fic, and I'm supposed to put a shameless plug here from her, for her fic Child's Play, but mentioning the name is enough. She was rushing the relationship, I helped her write a scene worthy of SAH. I did NOT include the slash part of the fic in the bit I wrote. So, sorry. Been busy.

Guess what? It's Friday, and still no chapter. Sorry. And I'm afraid that I may have to push this back to NEXT Saturday. I need time to write. And why am I leaving all of this? Just so you can all see how much I procrastinate.

Guess what else? It's Saturday, and I will have a chap out. And tomorrow's my birthday! ::dances around:: I can't wait--I'll finally be ____ years old! And I'll be the same age as all my friends! And I still love Harry Potter--going on five years! Anyway--on with it!

"Sirius! Pay attention!" James yelled. Remus had just swooped across the field to hit a Bludger Sirius could easily have hit without moving three feet.

It was two days before the Quidditch match, and James had been holding practices for at least two hours each night since Remus had joined the team. It had taken only five days to teach Remus all the moves James had designed, and only one day for him to master the moves already in existence. Now it was just the matter of practicing. 

Sirius sighed. He didn't want to admit it, but he was feeling a little jealous. He had always been pretty much the best on the team. Now he was shunted to the side, and he knew that everyone's attention would be on Remus instead of him. He tried not to feel jealous, but he couldn't help it. Everyone had their own little talents, and his had been Quidditch. Now he wasn't the best anymore and he no longer shone at anything. James was everything. He was popular, and Head Boy. He was the top of the year, and was good at nearly everything. Peter…well, he wasn't really good at anything, but that was why he was so well known. Remus' talent _had_ been being such a great friend, but know it was Quidditch. And Sirius had nothing. Sure, he was smart, but then so were all the Ravenclaws. Sure, he played pranks, but so did the rest of his friends. He _had _been the best at Quidditch, but now…he was just like everyone else, but different. Everyone else's parents were loving, caring. His were…Corvus and Ursa. That was the only word for it. Sirius was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't see the Bludger heading straight for him. 

"Sirius!" Remus yelled.

Sirius raised the club and swung, just in time. Then he sunk back into his thoughts. He flew around the field in a sort of stupor, occasionally hitting the Bludgers, more often than not glaring in Remus' direction. Once, after Remus hit a Bludger with the _one_ move Sirius had never been able to master, and the rest of the team cheered, Sirius hit the Bludger as hard as he could away from James and towards Remus. Remus did the Sloth Grip Roll and easily avoided it. Sirius flew away angrily. 

When James called an end to the practice, he turned to Sirius looking livid. "SIRIUS, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, WE NEED TWO FULLY FUNCTIONAL BEATERS, NOT ONE DOING A GREAT JOB AND ONE DAYDREAMING! IF YOU DON'T SMARTEN UP, I MAY JUST KICK YOU OFF THE TEAM AND REPLACE YOU! AS IT IS, REMUS IS DOING ALL THE WORK! THERE ARE TWO BEATERS FOR A REASON! IF THERE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ONE BEATER, THERE WOULD BE ONE BEATER! THE GAME IS IN TWO DAYS, AND YOU'VE BEEN PLAYING HORRIBLY FOR THE PAST WEEK! I'VE HAD IT UP TO _HERE_ WITH YOU SIRIUS, AND DON'T THINK JUST BECAUSE I'M YOUR BEST FRIEND I'M GOING TO CUT YOU ANY SLACK! I'VE GIVEN YOU PLENTY OF WARNINGS, SO GET WITH IT!"

Sirius nodded silently, fighting the urge to cover his head. _James isn't going to hurt you, don't be an idiot_, Sirius told himself.

As he walked back from the pitch, Sirius avoided James and Remus. He sighed. "Remind me why I insisted Remus try out when he said he wasn't sure?"

"Maybe because that's what friends are for Padfoot. To encourage their friends when they believe in them," someone said, catching up with Sirius.

Without turning around, Sirius said with a malice filled voice, "Look, it's the new Quidditch star. I expect James will be getting rid of me soon, since you're so much better."

"I'm not, Sirius," Remus replied.

Sirius laughed a humorless laugh. "You are. Don't try to make me feel better. It won't work, and besides, you probably don't even consider me a friend anymore, just someone who wants to be like you. There are a bunch of people like that. Five so far, soon to be thousands."

"What do you mean?" Remus asked, and Sirius knew he was on the verge of tears. Sirius was surprised to find he didn't care.

"You're such a good Beater. You're the best on the team, on all the teams. All the others wish they could be like you, and soon so will the rest of the school. Luscious Lupin, that'll be what the girls will call you. But I prefer Loony Loopy Lupin myself. Fits you better."

Remus stood in front of Sirius. Sirius was taller, he glared down at him. But Remus held his gaze, obviously angry by now. The two circled each other, neither looking away. 

"Don't make me fight you Sirius," Remus warned.

Sirius laughed. "You wouldn't win."

"Want to bet on it?" Remus replied, advancing closer.

"Sure, why not?" Sirius replied casually.

Remus leapt on Sirius and they began to fight. Seconds later, James pulled them apart. 

"What is _up_ Sirius?" James demanded.

"Fine, go ahead, assume it was me," Sirius said, pretending to be angry, but really he was hurt. "I don't care. It always is, isn't it." He turned away and ran towards the castle, tears spilling onto his cheeks.

Remus' anger disappeared in a nanosecond. "Oh God…he's upset isn't he, that I'm on the team. And he feels like…Quidditch was always his thing, the thing _he_ got to be good at. And then I took that away…I've got to go after him."

But Sirius had already reached the castle and was nearly to the Gryffindor common room. He ran even faster than he had been, hoping no one else would see him, since he was crying. He reached the Fat Lady and said the password.

But the Fat Lady didn't let him in. "I'm sorry, the password's changed. Didn't you know?"

Sirius groaned. _I'm a Prefect, shouldn't I know?_ Then he remembered. "V-venomous Tentacula."

The portrait opened and Sirius went inside, then ran up to the dormitory. He leapt onto his bed, put a Sticking Charm on his hangings so they wouldn't separate, then a sound charm around his whole bed and began to sob. 

__

Why does everything happen to me? First my parents, then Remus…and now Remus hates me, because I was so stupid…and James prefers Remus over me now because he's a better flier…I didn't think it would bother me, but it does. And I don't even know why I'm acting like this, I'm not usually like this.

He was interrupted by Remus' voice giving the counter charm for the Sticking Charm.

"Damn," Sirius whispered, trying to stop crying to no avail.

Remus carefully sat at the end of Sirius' bed. "Look, Sirius, I know you're upset."

"I know too, and I don't know why!" Sirius exclaimed. "Look, Remus, I'm really sorry about what I said…I didn't really mean it."

"Yes, you did," Remus said. "And I don't blame you. Quidditch was _your_ thing…and then I joined the team."

Sirius nodded. "Yeah, I guess…but that doesn't excuse what I did."

"Maybe not Sirius, but it's all right. I understand. I've told James I'm resigning," Remus replied.

"WHAT?! Remus, you can't!"

Remus looked at Sirius in a don't-try-to-change-my-mind sort of way. "I can and I did. You're much more important to me than Quidditch, Sirius. If me being on the team makes you upset, then I'll resign. James wasn't exactly happy, but he agreed. He didn't have much choice. I'm going to play in the game, then I'm off the team."

"But Remus--"

Remus' voice was hard. "Sirius, I've made up my mind." Remus' voice became softer. "Look, I know you act like you want me to keep playing, but do you _really_?"

Sirius' lip trembled. "No…but Remus, I'm being childish. I don't know why I'm being so childish, but I am. Don't listen to me."

"Sirius, you _are not_ being childish. You've been mistreated far too long. That's why you feel you need to be good at something. And if you don't tell Dumbledore about your parents soon…I will," Remus replied.

"How did we get onto the subject of my parents?" Sirius demanded, glaring at Remus.

Remus looked back at him. "Very easily. Sirius, you _need_ to tell Dumbledore. People like your parents shouldn't be allowed to do what they do."

Sirius, near tears again, said quietly, "Can we not talk about my parents Remus? Please, I don't like discussing them."

Remus nodded. "I understand."

They sat in silence for a moment, then Remus cleared his throat nervously.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"Well, I was just wondering--where do you plan to go after Hogwarts?"

"You know I want to be an Auror," Sirius replied. 

Remus shook his head. "No, no, where do you plan to _go_?"

"Home…" Sirius replied vaguely.

"Elaborate," Remus replied.

Sirius sighed. "I'll go home, get all my stuff, and then get a flat or something. I don't know."

"How are you going to pay for a flat?" Remus asked.

Sirius looked indignant. "I do have money you know."

"How much?" Remus asked.

"A couple hundred pounds," Sirius replied off-handedly.

Remus smiled a tiny smile. "Sirius, that'll last you all of three months rent."

Sirius' eyes widened. "Hey, you're right. Well then, I'll…I'll…"

"…Listen to me," Remus finished. "Sirius, you know how my parents left their house to me in their will?"

"Yes," said Sirius, clearly not knowing what Remus was getting at.

"Well, I can hardly handle such a big house on my own…"

"Go on," Sirius prompted.

Remus took a deep breath. "Would you like to move in with me, into my family's house? Once we've left school and you've got your things? It's in Edinburgh--haven't you always wanted to live there?"

Sirius was shocked. Yes, he had always wanted to live there, and Remus was actually willing to let Sirius _live_ with him. But then he thought of the imposition it would be. The Lupins hadn't been the richest people in the world, and surely it would be hard enough for Remus to provide for himself.

"Remus, I appreciate the offer, more than you'll ever know, but I couldn't," Sirius said, truly sorry.

"All right then. But if you change your mind, the offer still stands. Always will," Remus replied quietly.

Sirius nodded. "Remus, it's nothing personal, all right? I just…"

"It's all right. Don't worry about it," Remus said, still in a quiet voice.

Sirius sighed. "Remus…don't resign from the team."

"Sirius--"

"Because I don't want you to," Sirius continued in a rush. "I can handle not being the best. I _was_ being childish, but now I see things clearly."

Remus hesitated. "Well…if you're sure…I'll stick around a little longer. But if you start being upset, I'll resign."

Sirius bit his lip. _I guess that's as good as Remus is going to get. So…_ "Good."

~*~

The day of the Quidditch match dawned sunny and clear. James woke Sirius, Remus and Gus early, then somehow managed to rouse the others. They all went to the Great Hall together, where James forced them to eat breakfast.

"How do you guys do this?" Remus asked James in a soft and scared sounding voice.

"Do what?" James asked.

"Play Quidditch."

Sirius patted Remus' shoulder reassuringly. "Hey Remie, don't worry about it. You're awesome, just ignore the crowd, focus on the game and you'll be fine."

Remus nodded, still looking a bit frightened.

"Oh, lighten up Remus," Gus said impatiently.

The team sat on the benches in the changing room and listened to James' pep talk.

"Okay team, remember this match will decide whether we play for the Cup or not. We're so far undefeated, but then, so is Slytherin. If we lose, we may be out of the running, depending on how much Ravenclaw wins or loses by when _they _play Slytherin if Slytherin wins. Since Hufflepuff lost to Slytherin by one hundred fifty points, and Hufflepuff lost to us by one hundred points and only won against Ravenclaw by fifty, they're out of the running, so we don't have to worry about them, they're out of the running. So it's only Slytherin and Ravenclaw we're worried about, but Ravenclaw has lost once, so we're more worried about Slytherin, because Ravenclaw has lost once." James said all this without taking a breath. "And I hope with you on the team, Remus, we can surprise the Slytherins with your Beating ability. They don't think much of it, from what I've heard, so I hope we can surprise them."

Sirius grinned.

"What do you find so funny Sirius?" Remus asked as they walked out to the field.

"Ever noticed how James repeats himself when he's nervous?" Sirius asked in response.

"It's not proper to respond to a question with a question you know," Remus said, just before Madam Hooch told them to mount their brooms.

"Okay, and it looks like Potter has found a replacement for his girlfriend Starr, it's Remus Lupin, wonder how good he is, he looks pretty weak--not at all the build for a Beater. Of course, had I been in Gryffindor, I would have gotten the position, no doubt about it--Hufflepuff captain said so himself--"

"Bagman, are you commentating or complimenting yourself! Get back to the match!" McGonagall shouted.

"Of course Professor. So, Potter has the Quaffle, he's going to the hoops, he's going to sc--no, he's hit by a Bludger from Slytherin, tough luck there, and on of the Slytherin chasers get the Quaffle--oh, I say!"

The crowd let out a collective gasp, then they all cheered wildly.

"Well, it seems Lupin _is_ a good Beater, fantastic in fact--Looks like Black isn't the best anymore!"

The match went on for perhaps thirty more minutes. Neither team scored. Gus was looking wildly around for the Snitch, then--

"Gus! Hoops, our side!" Remus said, flying past him.

Gus sped toward the golden hoops at the Gryffindor end and grabbed the Snitch. They had won.

"Remus, you were amazing!" Sirius yelled, landing next to him with a THUD. Simply amazing, you should be a Seeker too!"

Gus grinned. "Thanks mate," he said, "I owe you one."

Remus just shrugged.

The team got changed, and James, Sirius and Remus met Peter outside of the changing rooms.

As the four Marauders trudged up to the castle, they overheard some girls from Ravenclaw talking.

One girl, a tall blonde said, "He's a really good Beater, and he's cute too."

"Yeah, why haven't I ever noticed him?" her friend sighed.

A third girl spoke up, "I wish he would be my boyfriend."

The first girl sighed. "But he'll never notice us. We'll just admire him from afar. Luscious Lupin."

"Yeah, Luscious Lupin," the others sighed.

Sirius grinned at Remus, who was gaping in horror.

"Told you so."

Responses!

Kristen: Hmm, I probably will. 

Katie: Slash. Yuck. Not here. I missed James too. And I'm trying.

RnRForever: We'll see.

Gohan Hugger: Thanks.

Degroat Thomas :what does wow mean

Skye Gemini: Thanks! And me too. Most definitely.


	10. Of Friends, Pranks, and Backstabbing

AGAIN, I have nearly 50 reviews! My 50th reviewer gets:  
a. A chapter dedicated to them

b. A story (max. 3 chaps.) written for them SLASH INCLUDED.

c. I had a c once…but I don't like self insertation, aka, Mary-Sue, so I'm leaving it out.

Disclaimer: J.K.'s 

A/N: I AM SUCH A MORON!! I FINISHED THIS CHAPTER LIKE SOMETIME IN AUGUST AND THEN NEVER POSTED IT!! 

Hmm. I wonder if this should be the last chapter…no, I don't think so. This will deal with some pranks, some more Remus/Sirius relationship (still not slash) and some more Sirius/James. N.E.W.T.s will also be coming. Hey, to the reviewer who wanted to see James cry over Annie, it's in this chapter! 

And I wrote that thing about the O.W.L.s without a thought to OotP, so it's an entirely different thing. What happened was, James was trying to do a prank on Snape, but it backfired. Sirius tried to help, but just made it worse.

Two weeks had passed since the Quidditch match, and Sirius hadn't had a problem with Quidditch and Remus again. It was now March, and Remus and Lily were trying to convince James and Sirius to start studying.

"You know Siri, you should really start studying," Lily said, laying her head on Sirius' shoulder.

"Come on Flower, I've got plenty of time," Sirius protested.

Lily turned to James. "James? You should study too. Set an example for the younger students. You're Head Boy after all."

James smiled. "I know Lil, but I just don't want to. I didn't study in March for the O.W.L.s, and I did fine."

Sirius laughed. "Yeah, and afterward, you made a total prat out of yourself!"

"You didn't help matters much," Lily pointed out.

Sirius responded to this with a kiss.

"Would you keep that out of the common room? You know, I _am_ going to start studying. I really need top N.E.W.T.s, if I want to be able to get a job, if I _can_ get a job," Remus said testily. The full moon had been only the previous week, at the end of February.

"Okay, we'll try," Sirius replied.

Lily, however said, "You're absolutely right Remus. Sorry Sirius, but I have to put my studies before my boyfriends. I was only introduced to the magical world seven years ago. If I'm going to be able to get the job I want, I'll have to have top N.E.W.T.s as well."

Sirius looked slightly hurt, but said, "Yeah, I guess I might as well do a little extra work. I want to be an Auror, it's the only career I've ever considered." He sighed. "Remus, will you please help me with the Arithmancy assignment?"

Remus shook his head. "Not just yet, I have to finish Charms first, and I wanted to do that damn Potions. Get it out of the way."

James sat down and opened his Transfiguration book. "If you're all studying, I may as well too."

"Why don't you got find Peter if you don't want to study?" Sirius suggested.

"I've looked for him, but I can't find him anywhere," James said glumly.

Sirius stood up. "Come on James, let's go do something. I don't have anything to do, really, apart from Arithmancy." He turned to Remus. "How long will you be working on Potions and Charms?"

"An hour, maybe two," Remus replied.

"Then I'll be back in about two hours. Come on James, let's go do something," Sirius repeated.

James smiled weakly and followed Sirius out of the common room.

"James, are you all right?" Sirius asked curiously.

"Fine, just fine," James replied, but Sirius could tell he was lying.

Sirius put a hand on James' shoulder. "Tell the truth James."

James' lip trembled. Then he got himself under control again. "Well, it's just…with Annie gone, and you spending most of your time with Remus, I feel kind of…lonely, I guess."

"Oh, James, I'm sorry. I know I promised to spend more time with you, but I…didn't. We still have two hours, though you know," Sirius said.

James attempted half-heartedly to smile. "Yeah, I guess."

Sirius sighed. He knew he had hurt James, but he didn't know how to make it up. Then he got an idea. "I'll be right back!"

"Where are you--" James began, but Sirius ran off in the middle of his sentence. "Going," James finished quietly. 

Almost immediately, a black dog came bounding towards James. He laughed at first, then said, "Sirius, what if you get caught?"

Sirius glanced around, transformed, then said, "James, I've got a bloody brilliant idea. This is what I need you to do." He explained his plan, and James laughed. 

"Bloody brilliant!"

Sirius transformed and followed James to the Transfiguration department. James peered into the classroom and found Professor McGonagall grading essays.

"Excuse me, Professor?"

She looked up. "Yes Potter?"

"Um, I was looking through a book, and I came across the Animagus register. I was wondering if you could show me…?"

She hesitated, then sighed, "Oh, all right." She transformed and a tabby cat was sitting on her desk. 

"That's really amazing. I wish I could do that," James said, sounding as if he were in awe. 

McGonagall meowed. 

Taking this as his cue, Sirius barked and ran down the corridor and into the classroom. McGonagall hissed. Sirius lunged at her, barking madly. McGonagall gave a frightened meow and ran from the room. Sirius chased after her. James chased after them. 

"Why don't you just change back Professor?" he called. McGonagall stopped and turned back into herself.

"James Potter, I am absolutely disgusted. What an unworthy trick! De--"

"Wait Professor, I had no idea about the dog, honest I didn't! I was just curious about Animagi, really!" James interrupted.

McGonagall opened her mouth to respond. Sirius barked again, and she shrieked. "Potter, I'll let you off punishment if you can get rid of the thing!"

James nodded and ran towards where he had seen Sirius disappear. He found Sirius leaning against a wall, fist stuffed into his mouth. 

Sirius and James ran up a flight of stairs and burst out laughing. "That was so funny!" James gasped. "You should have heard her scream!"

"I did!" Sirius replied. "You are such a good actor. 'I had no idea Professor.' Brilliant!"

James grinned. "I don't think she believed me. She just wanted me to get rid of you!"

Sirius laughed, then said, "Come on James, let's go for a walk."

The two boys walked outside and sat under a tree by the lake. 

"What's up Sirius?" James asked.

Sirius sighed. "Well, I wanted to ask you something. Do you think I should tell Dumbledore about…you know…my parents?"

James looked thoughtful. "Well…yes Sirius, you should. Your parents could kill you someday you know. And I don't want that. None of us do."

Sirius sighed. "That what Remus keeps saying. But James, I don't want to. I know I could be killed, but…I guess I'm kind of…afraid to tell Dumbledore."

"Take your time. But please Sirius, tell him soon."

"I will," Sirius sighed. "I will."

They sat in silence for a moment. Then James said, "I sent a letter to Annie a couple weeks ago. It came back this morning. Opened, with 'Fuck you' on the letter."

Sirius looked surprised. "What did you write to her?"  


"I just wrote, 'Dear Annie, I miss you. Maybe we can arrange a visit over the summer? James.' I don't know why she replied like that," James said.

"Hey, James, I couldn't help overhearing," Arabella said. "And I know why she replied like that."

James' head snapped up. "Why?!" 

"Because, she was only dating you for the sake of having a boyfriend. She didn't even like you as a friend very much. She only hung out with you Marauders because first of all, Lily was her best friend, and second of all, she had a crush on Sirius," Arabella said smugly.

"How the hell do you know that?!" James demanded. 

Arabella's smug look faded a bit. She looked sorry for James now. "She was always talking behind your back mate. In the changing rooms especially, after you guys left. And in the girls' showers. She would ask if any of us had seen Sirius naked, that sort of thing."

James looked heartbroken. 

"Oh, I'm sorry James, I shouldn't have told you."

"No 'Bella, I needed to know. Thanks," James said quietly.

Arabella nodded and walked away.

"What a bitch," Sirius remarked.

James sighed. "Oh well. She's gone now."

"James, I know you're not being truthful. I know you loved her," Sirius said.

"Fine!" James shouted. "Fine, I loved her! And she didn't even like me! She's just a superficial bitch!" He started crying. He tried to hide it, but Sirius wasn't fooled. 

"It's okay Jamie," Sirius said softly, hugging James.

James pulled away after a few minutes, sniffling. "I thought she loved me," he said softly. "Oh well, there's still…never mind." He sighed. "Oh well. I guess it doesn't matter anymore."

Sirius checked his watch. "Oh! Look James, I'm sorry, but I have to go do my Arithmancy. Remus will be done now. But I promise, really promise this time, that I'll spend more time with you. Okay?"

James nodded. "I'll come with you. I have Transfiguration to do." The two of them walked up to Gryffindor Tower.

The common room was quiet, except for the scratching of Remus and Lily's quills. Lily was reading a History of Magic book and taking notes, Remus was scribbling furiously on a long sheet of parchment.

"…to create the potion. Done!"

"Shhh!" Lily hissed.

James sat next to Lily and opened his Transfiguration book and took out parchment, quill and ink. He began to write without even opening the book.

"So, Remus, will you help me now?" Sirius asked, sliding into the seat next to Remus.

Remus looked up. "Yeah, sure. Take out your book, some parchment, what you've got so far, and quill and ink." Sirius took everything out. "So, what's the assignment?"

"That one on how Arithmancy can be used to translate runes."

"Oh, right. I did that one yesterday. What do you have so far?" Remus asked, peering at the parchment.

"Um…'How Arithmancy Can Be Used to Translate Runes.' Then my name and the date," Sirius said sheepishly.

Remus sighed. "All right. See, the rune for…" Remus explained the whole process, then said, "Okay, think you can do it now?"

Sirius nodded. "I think so."

"Good."

After an hour or so of working, Sirius yawned, stood up, and stretched. "I'm done. I think I'll go get another bottle of ink and toss it in my bag. This one is almost gone."

He walked upstairs and opened his trunk. He dug around, looking for another bottle of ink. He didn't find the ink right away, but he did find something else. 

A bloodstained shirt.

Sirius clenched his fists. He remembered that day well. It had been a rainy day, and his father had sent him to the store, warning him not to get wet unless it began raining again…

__

A fourteen-year-old Sirius walked into the store. "Good morning Mrs. Baker," he said to the woman at the counter.

"Oh, good morning Sirius dear. What can I do for you today?"

"I need some wormwood and some essence of murtlap. Oh, and some milk," Sirius said, consulting his list.

Mrs. Baker smiled and told him, "You know where the milk is. I'll have those ingredients for you by the time you get back to this counter."

Sirius got the milk, went back to the counter and got the ingredients. He paid, smiled at Mrs. Baker and walked out the door.

He was promptly tripped by a little girl. He landed in a mud puddle.

"Oh, you poor dear, I'm so sorry. Elsie, you should be more careful," the girl's mother said.

Sirius gulped. He was going to be punished severely. "I-it's okay."

Sirius walked home nervously. His father swooped down on him as soon as he arrived and slapped him across the face, hard. His nose began to bleed. Then he slapped, punched and kicked everywhere he could. Along with his nosebleed, Sirius had several new bruises and old cuts were bleeding again. His white shirt was steadily turning red in several places…

"Sirius?" 

Sirius jumped and spun around, tears in his eyes.

"Oh, Remus…it's only you."

Remus walked closer to him. "Sirius, what's wrong?:

"Well, I was looking for some ink, and I found this instead," Sirius began wildly, gesturing to the shirt in is other hand, "And then I started to remember stuff--everything that led up to this, and I was kind of lost in memories, you know, and then you--"

"Sirius, Sirius, calm down. It's all ri…Remus trailed off when he realized what Sirius was holding. "I never realized how bad it was," Remus whispered.

Sirius looked at him in confusion, then realized Remus had noticed the bloodstains on the shirt. "Oh…" He stuffed the shirt back into his trunk. "It doesn't matter Remus, really. This happened to me when I was fourteen. I'm used to it by now."

Remus just shook his head. "It does matter."

"Look Remus, let's not start this again, all right?" Sirius asked, rummaging for ink again.

Remus made a noise of irritation. "Fine."

Sirius sighed. "Why does everyone insist on trying to get me to tell Dumbledore?"

"Because, Sirius, we care about you," Remus said frostily. 

Sirius sighed again. "I know Remus, but I just don't want to tell anyone else, Dumbledore especially. I've been living with it since fourth year, and I'm actually legally of age now, I still have all my stuff at home of course, but I'm about to leave and so I won't have to deal with them anymore."

"But what about Lyra?" Remus asked quietly.

Sirius froze. Remus had struck a nerve. "Corvus and Ursa are _not_ going to do that to Lyra! She's their pride and joy!"

"Sometimes when a child is abused, after they leave home, the parents get addicted to abusing. They will turn to the 'perfect child' the one whom they once considered so much better than the abused one and will ruthlessly beat them," Remus said.

Sirius shook his head. "They won't. I know it. She's a perfect little angel."

"Sirius, you're so naïve," Remus told him scathingly. "You think once you're gone your parents will be warm and loving? They're only nice to Lyra to make you feel even more neglected."

Sirius clenched his fists again. "I am _not_ naïve! I am more mature and have gone through and experienced more than anyone else I know!" He added quickly, "Excluding you of course."

"Gone through more I can believe, but mature? Please," Remus replied.

"You should know. You and James should know, I'm more mature than I act. Acting immature is…" Sirius' voice dropped in volume. "My veil. My curtain to hide behind," he finished quietly.

Remus sighed. "This isn't working. I'm trying to convince you to tell someone, I'm only making you angry."

"I appreciate it Remus, I do, but…I can't. I've told you that since Christmas," Sirius said sadly.

"I know." Remus was quiet for a moment, then said, "Isn't life strange?"

"What do you mean?"

Remus shrugged. "Well, people change so much. I know I've changed a lot since first year. Hell, I've changed a lot in the course of _this_ year. And even though I hate to admit it, sometimes at night I almost start to cry at the thought of leaving this place in three months."

"Yeah, I've changed a lot too. Hogwarts has gone from being school to being home, and all my friends…are more like my family now. And now that you mention it, I don't really want to leave it. I mean, I'll be going out into the world, pretty much by myself. It's scary," Sirius said.

"It'll probably be harder for me," Remus said thoughtfully, "You know, since I'm a werewolf. And also…I always expected my parents to be there to help me. But they won't be. I'll be on my own."

Sirius shook his head. "No Remus, you'll have us. Your friends."

Remus smiled. "I know Sirius. And thanks. Come on, let's go downstairs."

"I don't know if I want to brave Lily," Sirius said jokingly.

Remus laughed. "She's not that bad Sirius!"

"Yeah, she is. But that's one reason I love her so much." Sirius hesitated, then said, "Remus, I'm kind of worried about James."

Remus frowned. "Why?"

"Because, earlier when you and Lily were doing work and James and I weren't, Arabella told us that Annie was only dating James for the sake of having a boyfriend and she didn't even like him very much. And she only hung out with us Marauders because Lily was her best friend, and she had a crush on me." Sirius hesitated, then asked, "Did you ever--? I mean, did _she_ ever…mention anything to you?"

Remus shook his head. "No. But James told me plenty of times that he thought he loved Annie. I hope he doesn't take it too hard."

"Oh, so now you're talking about me behind my back. You're such a good friend Sirius," James said accusingly.

Remus hastily said, before Sirius could reply, "James, Sirius was only trying to help you."

"Well, that still doesn't give him the right to talk about me behind my back," James countered.

"James, I wasn't talking about you in a _bad_ way!" Sirius said. "I was just worried about you. You're one of those people that never talk about anything."

"Like you?"

Sirius looked away from James and muttered, "Yes, like me."

James sighed. "Okay. Never mind."

"James, I--"

"Forget it," James said forcefully. "Just forget it."

Sirius said quietly, "All right."

"So, James, what brings you up here? I thought you were studying." Remus asked.

"I finished, and besides, I thought _you_ were studying," James replied.

Remus shrugged. "Well, I finished too. And I don't need to study _that_ much right now. It's only March."

Sirius grinned. "Let's see. Three Marauders not studying. And invisibility cloak. What should we do?"

"Maybe we should convince McGonagall that there's another dog around," James said with a grin.

Remus looked confused. "McGonagall? Dog?"

James got a faraway look in his eye. "Yeah, it was this excellent prank Sirius thought up. I 'innocently' asked McGonagall to show me her Animagus form, which is a cat--"  


"Oh no. Don't tell me…?"

"Yup. Sirius chased her. And you should have heard her scream when he barked…"

Remus tried to conceal his amusement. "But Sirius, you could have been caught."

Sirius smiled a lopsided half smile and winked. "No way in Hell will I _ever_ get caught. At anything."

"Someday you will Sirius. Someday you will."

Gohan Hugger: @9: Mmm. I prefer Sirius myself…but with him dead, Remus is looking pretty good… @8: Well, maybe. Prison sounds good…very good.

RnRForever: WE'LL SEE.

Black Penther: Thanks!

Katie: Um…um…what do I say in response to this? I already responded to it, two months ago. Um…I finished Chronicles, but you know that. And um…now I see what you mean about responding to my reviews of Loss being hard! Well, I feel like a moron, so you can embarrass me with that…or with my stupid nickname. Um…moving on:

Sparks the insomniac werewolf: Um…Well, I really wasn't expecting people to out and out TELL me that he was a crybaby…I was actually ranting to myself. But, thanks for the compliment!

Marauders4ever: Thanks! But, this isn't novel length…so I couldn't post it on Schnoogle.com. Is it?

MooNi13: Thanks.


End file.
